Recently, the United Nations marked the first Monday of October as World Habitat Day. This annual event, held 5th October in 2020, emphasizes the importance of human settlements and the right to adequate housing.
About World Habitat Day
World Habitat Day is an opportunity to remind individuals of their critical role in shaping the future living conditions for coming generations. The Global Observance of World Habitat Day 2020 was co-hosted by UN-Habitat and the Government of Indonesia; UN-Habitat is a United Nations agency that encourages sustainable human settlements. First celebrated in 1986 under the theme “Shelter is My Right”, Nairobi, Kenya was the host city. This year’s theme is “Housing for All-A Better Urban Future” focusing on fostering sustainable housing management to help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 11, which seeks to build inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities.
Global Scenario
At present, roughly 55% of the world’s population resides in cities, and this number continues to grow every day. Despite urbanization, about 1.8 billion people are still living in slums, and around 3 billion lack basic sanitation facilities, including hand washing amenities.
Indian Scenario: Challenges and Measures
India faces a unique set of challenges due to its size, diversity, and population. These challenges include lack of basic amenities like drinking water, appropriate sanitation, hygiene, and housing, especially in slum areas. Despite significant urban population growth over the last two decades, healthcare infrastructure has not seen proportional improvement. In addition, high levels of pollution from traffic and construction increase health risks amongst city dwellers. The Covid-19 pandemic further highlighted these issues, with large-scale migration from cities to rural areas presenting additional challenges.
However, major flagship Missions such as Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, the Smart Cities Mission, and the AMRUT Mission were already in implementation in India before the SDGs were adopted by other Member States.
Focus on Housing
There is a strong focus on utilizing new and environmentally safe construction technologies and techniques. The global housing technology challenge (GHTC) seeks to incorporate the best national and international technologies. The aim of GHTC is to accelerate the construction of affordable housing and meet the target of building 1.2 crore houses by 2022.
Support for Urban Poor
The PM SVANidhi scheme targets street vendors affected by the lockdown, providing collateral-free working capital loans. This initiative also aims to integrate them into the formal economy and digital banking ecosystem.
Way Forward
Moving forward, India should focus on creating a database of migrant workers, recognizing and identifying them as a first step towards providing basic amenities. The central and state governments should continue addressing economic informality, the rural-urban divide, uneven growth within and between states, and associated social and economic inequalities. Initiatives like the Unorganised Worker Index Number Cards by the Labour Ministry could aid in formalising the workforce. Efforts should also be made to improve the public health infrastructure, with projects like Smart Cities leading the way by focusing on urban renewal infrastructure.
