Bhubaneswar, Feb. 6 -- The Odisha government has initiated steps to provide affordable rental housing to the urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) 2.0, to ease the growing pressure of high rental costs in urban areas.

As part of the initiative, unused and underutilised residential buildings owned by the Central and State governments will be identified and converted into affordable rental housing complexes. The housing units will primarily cater to migrant urban poor, industrial and commercial workers, informal sector employees, and working women.

In this connection, Additional Chief Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department, Usha Padhee, has written to multiple departments-including Home, Agricul...