The Government today said that India is on track to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals dealing with the improvement in the lives of slum dwellers. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Ms. Kumari Shelja said that 59.7 million people have come out of slum conditions since 2000. Quoting from a UN Habitat report on the state of world cities, Ms. Shelja said that the prevalence of slums has declined from 41.5 per cent in 1990 to 28.1 per cent this year. She informed the House that more than 15 lakh houses for urban poor have been approved for their development under various programmes. The Minister said that the Government has also decided to launch a new scheme Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers and urban poor. She said, the scheme will be extended to support the states which are willing to assign property rights to people living in slum areas for provision of shelter, basic infrastructure and civic amenities.