The Slum Rehabilitation Act 1995 was passed by the government of the Indian state Maharashtra to protect the rights of swamp dwellers and promote the development of swamp areas. The Act protected from eviction, anyone who could produce a document proving they lived in the city of Mumbai before January 1995, regardless if they lived on the swamp or other kinds of marsh land. The ACT was the result of policy development that included grassroots slum dweller organisations, particularly SPARC. [1]
Through the Act, pavement dwellers were for the first time accepted into the classification of households that are entitled to land for relocation. Following the enactment of this legislation, the government of Maharashtra and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai set out a special policy for planning the relocation of the 20,000 households, using the information from a census Mahila Milan and NSDF completed in 1995. [2]
The legislation was passed in reaction to the proliferation of slums in Indian cities, where a large section of the population lives in cramped, unsanitary circumstances with no access to essential services such as water, sewage, and power. The UN's definition of slums - those that live under one roof and lack basic amenities such as: durable housing, sufficient living area; access to improved water, access to sanitation facilities and secure tenure. [3] The act establishes a framework for slum redevelopment with the goal of improving living conditions for slum people while simultaneously supporting urban growth.
The act calls for the establishment of a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) [4] . The SRA is in charge of identifying slums and launching slum redevelopment operations. The authority is also in charge of procuring land, issuing permits, and overseeing the progress of slum redevelopment programmes.
The provision for the Transfer of Development rights (TDR) is an important aspect of the Slum Rehabilitation Act. [5] TDR is a method that permits developers to transfer the right to create more floor space to another place in exchange for the building of slum rehabilitation dwellings. This clause encourages developers to embark on slum reconstruction projects by providing them with additional floor space that can be utilised for commercial reasons. The policy also assures that slum inhabitants get better housing because rehabilitation housing must meet certain specifications and standards. [6] The Slum Rehabilitation Act also includes provisions for the establishment of slum rehabilitation programmes (SRS).
An SRS is a slum redevelopment plan that comprises rehabilitation housing, infrastructure, and amenities such as water supply, drainage, and roadways. [7] The SRA is in charge of developing and executing the SRS in conjunction with slum inhabitants. [8] The SRS also provides a provision for slum dwellers to participate in the redevelopment process, ensuring that their interests are taken into account.
The Slum Rehabilitation Act, on the other hand, has been rebuked for poor execution. One of the main concerns is that developers have utilised the statute to exploit slum inhabitants. Developers have been accused of purchasing slum land and then delaying the construction of rehabilitation houses while taking advantage of the TDR clause to create additional commercial space. As a result, slum inhabitants have been made homeless without obtaining any benefits. [9] Complaints have also been made that the rehabilitation housing given under the legislation is of poor quality and does not suit the needs of slum inhabitants.
Slum Rehabilitation schemes have been driven in recent years by an active effort to further city planning in the light of rising urbanisation and population migration. Mumbai has incurred a massive population surge in recent decades, therefore, the government has aimed to rehouse unhoused inhabitants of slums in Mumbai into separate housing. More recently, Modi's government enforced the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Scheme in India where affordable housing will be provided to the urban poor. This scheme is a four pronged approach and aims to eliminate all slums by 2022. Critics suggest this is a more improved approach to the Slum Rehabilitation Act of 1995 as it also allows credit loans to beneficiaries that allows them to buy houses as well as improving the supply side of housing. This scheme in 1995 solely focus on the rehabilitation of slum housing and not tenure security and boosting home ownership for the urban poor in India.
A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people. Although slums are usually located in urban areas, in some countries they can be located in suburban areas where housing quality is low and living conditions are poor. While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings which, because of poor-quality construction or lack of basic maintenance, have deteriorated.
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighted areas in inner cities to clear out slums and create opportunities for higher class housing, businesses, and other developments.
The Housing & Development Board, is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development responsible for the public housing in Singapore. Established in 1960 as a result of efforts in the late 1950s to set up an authority to take over the Singapore Improvement Trust's (SIT) public housing responsibilities, the HDB focused on the construction of emergency housing and the resettlement of kampong residents into public housing in the first few years of its existence.
Dharavi is a suburb in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It has often been considered to be one of the world's largest slums. Dharavi has an area of just over 2.39 square kilometres and a population of about 1,000,000. With a population density of over 277,136/km2 (717,780/sq mi), Dharavi is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) of Bangalore, India, is a governmental organization and the principal planning authority for Bangalore. Its function, under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act of 1961, is as a regulatory body required "to prepare in the prescribed manner a Comprehensive Development Plan" for the Bangalore Metropolitan Region. It also oversees planning and development of infrastructure, provision of development-related sites and services, the housing needs of underprivileged citizens in Bangalore and is currently the city's largest land developer. No other authority or person may undertake development within the Bangalore Metropolitan Region without the permission of the BDA.
Jockin Arputham was an Indian community leader and activist, known for his campaigning work of more than 40 years on issues related to slums and shanty towns. He was born in Karnataka, India and moved to Mumbai, where he quickly became politicized and established himself as a community leader. In 2014, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside the organisation he helped to found, Slum Dwellers International.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a massive city-modernization scheme launched by the Government of India under the Ministry of Urban Development. It envisaged a total investment of over $20 billion over seven years. It is named after Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. The aim is to encourage reforms and fast track planned development of identified cities. Focus is to be on efficiency in urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms, community participation, and accountability of ULBs/ Parastatal agencies towards citizens.
Slum upgrading is an integrated approach that aims to turn around downward trends in an area. These downward trends can be legal, physical (infrastructure), social or economic." The main objective of slum upgrading is to remove the poor living standards of slum dwellers and largely focuses on removing slum dwellers altogether.
Mahila Milan is a self-organised, decentralised collective of female pavement dwellers in Bombay. The group works with issues such as housing, sanitation, and grassroots lending schemes. It aims at gaining women equal recognition for improvement of their communities, while indulging in important decision making activities. The loans granted by the group to its members in times of need, are sanctioned in the name of the woman of the house.
Sheela Patel is an activist and academic involved with people living in slums and shanty towns.
Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited, doing business as HDIL, is an Indian real estate development company based in Mumbai.
Ranjit Poojari Naik was an architect and social worker who helped Mumbai slum dwellers. He had an involvement in nearly 50 slum redevelopment projects and was director of the People's Participation Programme. An activist for the Banjara people, Naik spoke at the second World Romani Conference in 1978, where he delivered a paper titled Banjara from Barothan.
Housing in India varies from palaces of erstwhile maharajas to modern apartment buildings in big cities to tiny huts in far-flung villages. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that India is doing 60.9% of what should be possible at its level of income for the right to housing.
Homelessness is a major issue in India. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines 'homeless' as those who do not live in a regular residence. The United Nations Economic and Social Council Statement has a broader definition for homelessness; it defines homelessness as follows: ‘When we are talking about housing, we are not just talking about four walls and a roof. The right to adequate housing is about security of tenure, affordability, access to services and cultural adequacy. It is about protection from forced eviction and displacement, fighting homelessness, poverty and exclusion. India defines 'homeless' as those who do not live in Census houses, but rather stay on pavements, roadsides, railway platforms, staircases, temples, streets, in pipes, or other open spaces. There are 1.77 million homeless people in India, or 0.15% of the country's total population, according to the 2011 census consisting of single men, women, mothers, the elderly, and the disabled. However, it is argued that the numbers are far greater than accounted by the point in time method. For example, while the Census of 2011 counted 46.724 homeless individuals in Delhi, the Indo-Global Social Service Society counted them to be 88,410, and another organization called the Delhi Development Authority counted them to be 150,000. Furthermore, there is a high proportion of mentally ill and street children in the homeless population. There are 18 million street children in India, the largest number of any country in the world, with 11 million being urban. Finally, more than three million men and women are homeless in India's capital city of New Delhi; the same population in Canada would make up approximately 30 electoral districts. A family of four members has an average of five homeless generations in India.
Illegal housing in India consists of huts or shanties built on land not owned by the residents and illegal buildings constructed on land not owned by the builders or developers. Although illegal buildings may afford some basic services, such as electricity, in general, illegal housing does not provide services that afford for healthy, safe environments.
Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Aandolan is a people's movement that emerged in the backdrop of massive slum demolitions in Mumbai in 2003–04. It started in 2005 as a struggle for housing rights in Mumbai, and continues to fight for rights of slum-dwellers and those cheated by the builders in various rehabilitation and redevelopment projects, including slum-dwellers, those affected by the Slum Rehabilitation Act and the unorganised sector workers. It is a part of the National Alliance of People's Movements and is led by Medha Patkar.
Slum clearance in the United Kingdom has been used as an urban renewal strategy to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. Early mass clearances took place in the country's northern cities. Starting from 1930, councils were expected to prepare plans to clear slum dwellings, although progress stalled upon the onset of World War II.
Slum clearance in India is used as an urban renewal approach to redevelop and transform poor and low income settlements into new developments or housing. Millions of people live in slum dwellings across India and many migrate to live in the slums from rural villages, often in search of work opportunities. Houses are typically built by the slum dwellers themselves and violence has been known to occur when developers attempt to clear the land of slum dwellings.
Slum clearance in the United States has been used as an urban renewal strategy to regenerate derelict or run-down districts, often to be replaced with alternative developments or new housing. Early calls were made during the 19th century, although mass slum clearance did not occur until after World War II with the introduction of the Housing Act of 1949 which offered federal subsidies towards redevelopments. The scheme ended in 1974 having driven over 2,000 projects with costs in excess of $50 billion.
The Ministry of Housing is a ministry in the Government of Maharashtra. Ministry is responsible for implementation of laws and acts related to housing in Maharashtra.