Rubina Ali, a child actress in the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, stands inside her house that was demolished by local authorities at a slum area in Mumbai, India, on May 20. Both she and fellow co-star Azharuddin Ismail have been promised government apartments. (Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press)

The state of Maharashtra in India has pledged to provide new homes to the two child stars of the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, said Friday he had approved the transfer of two government apartments to Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Ali to "enable them to live a life of dignity."

"Slumdog Millionaire has won Oscar recognition," Chavan told The Associated Press.

"We thought this would be a proper thing to honour these children acting in the film. It would be a good gesture on the part of the government."

Chavan did not say exactly when the children's families would be able to move into the apartments.

Rubina, 9, and Azharuddin, 10, lost their homes this month when the Mumbai authorities demolished sections of their slum.

Since then, Rubina has been staying with relatives and Azharuddin has been living in a makeshift shelter with his parents.

The announcement comes in light of a visit earlier this week by director Danny Boyle, who had set up trusts for the children. Boyle says he and the film's producers had been trying for some time to move the children and their families into formal homes.

Rafiq Qureshi, Rubina's father, said Boyle has not done enough.

"It has been five to six months," Qureshi said in an interview recently. "Everything is available in Mumbai if you have the money. If you really want to get us a house you can get us a house in two days."

"After the Oscars they forgot about us," he added.

Even with the state government's announcement, the acrimony continued.

The mother of Azharuddin, Shamin Ismail, told the BBC that the apartment being offered is in location that is too far away from the rest of her family — in the western suburb of Malad.

"Our family may grow and it would be better if we had a bigger house," she said. "My son worked very hard during the making of the film so it's only fair if he gets bigger accommodation."