Page 47 - 15MAR2019E

real estate

tat and shelter environment for the nomic problem. Without the security displacement, harassment and arrest.
poorer sections of society can not only of ownership, poor often invest little in Over the last decade, India has substan-
contribute towards their well-being their homes, result being a fragile home tially expanded its net of welfare poli-
and real asset creation, but also catalyse that cannot withstand natural disasters, cies, aimed at lifting millions from pov-
overall economic growth. It is thus criti- including floods. Whereas, when peo- erty. It seems that the time has come for
cal to recognise housing investment as ple have secure land rights, they invest making ‘right to shelter’ a reality. Prior-
a basic, fundamental building block of in improvement projects, work more ity for housing ought to be higher than
economic activity. There is little more hours without fear of land theft and education and health.
critical to a family’s quality of life than are more likely to take loans using their Challenges for India are daunting
a healthy, safe living space. Priority for new property as security. and homelessness has become a pow-
housing is higher than education and Lack of ownership right deprives erful monster. An estimated 65 million
health. Sustainable and inclusive hous- people of basic amenities. Once titled, people, or 13.6 million households, are
ing solutions, indeed, could bolster eco- they can obtain access to several Gov- housed in urban slums, according to
nomic growth quickly and efficiently. ernment benefits. Even a small plot the 2011 Census. It also showed that an
Landlessness and the lack of se- can lift a family out of extreme poverty. additional 1.8 million people are home-
cure property rights among the poor less. Recent estimates by the Ministry
are among those inequities that per- of Rural Development and Ministry of
petuate poverty, hold back economic A decent habitat Housing and Urban Affairs indicate a
development and fan social tensions. housing shortage of nearly three crore
Demographic shifts, combined with shelter and units in rural areas and 1.2 crore units in
poor or non-existent land ownership environment for the urban areas. Today, estimates of India’s
policies and insufficient resources have slum population range from 65 to 100
resulted in a surge of slum creation and poorer sections of million, comprising 17-24 percent of the
further deteriorated living conditions. society can not only country’s urban residents. In Mumbai,
Hernando de Soto in his book The India’s financial capital, about 52.5 per-
Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Tri- contribute towards cent of the population lives in slums,
umphs in the West and Fails Everywhere their well-being crammed in just nine percent of the
Else observed, “The hour of capitalism’s city’s total geographical area.
greatest triumph,” declares the famed and real asset The grim aspect of the housing sce-
Peruvian economist, “is in the eyes of creation, but also nario is that the number of homeless is
four-fifth of humanity, its hour of cri- huge despite the fact that its composi-
sis.” Soto explains that for many people catalyse overall tion of urban population is much lower
in the developing world, the land on compared to other countries. Accord-
which they live is their only asset. If that economic growth ing to the World Bank, urban popula-
property is not publicly recognised as of the country tion, as a proportion of the total popu-
belonging to them, they lose out that is, lation in 2015, stood at 86 per cent in
when men and women do not receive Brazil, 56 per cent in China, 54 per cent
recognised legal rights to their land and Land ownership is often the bedrock in Indonesia, 79 per cent in Mexico, 82
can, thus, easily be displaced without of other development interventions, per cent in South Korea and 31 per cent
recourse — development efforts floun- like owning land boosts nutrition, edu- in India.
der, undermining conservation efforts, cational outcomes and gender equal- By the accepted definition of slum
seeding injustice and conflict and frus- ity. The converse is equally true.Mil- (minimum 60 households), more than
trating efforts to escape poverty. lions of urban citizens remain “off the 2,500 Indian cities have slums; over-
The lack of official land titles is a map” failing to extend basic services to all, there are 33,500 slums and the to-
major impediment to the acquisition slum residents by using the concept of tal population stands at 65.5 million.
of housing finance. People do not have “opportunistic infl ux” — the idea that About 90 per cent of the residents have
documentary proof of being own- the provision of services might encour- electric power and 56 per cent have
ers of the piece of land on which they age greater migration from rural areas, access to water. These figures pose a
live. Many low-income villagers have thereby paradoxically increasing urban huge challenge for planners. Afford-
owned their land for generations. The deprivation. able housing has assumed great impor-
United Nations has estimated that There is little more critical to a fam- tance because it generates direct and
more than 70 per cent of the world’s ily’s quality of life than a healthy and indirect employment in the medium-
population lives without any formal safe living space. However, this section term and sustained consumption in the
acknowledgement of ownership of of India’s poor lives in inhuman condi- long-term. A 2014 study by the National
land. That is both a human and eco- tions and is often under the threat of Council of Applied Economic Research

Tehelka / 15 march 2019 47 www.Tehelka.com