Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development has since inception been providing assistance to BPL families who are either houseless or having inadequate housing facilities for constructing a safe and durable shelter. This effort has been part of a larger strategy of the Ministry’s poverty eradication effort, supporting the development of an environmentally sound habitat with adequate provisions for incremental expansion and improvement.
Ministry’s commitment of ‘shelter for all‘ gained further momentum when India became a signatory to the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlement in June 1996 recognising thereby the need for access to safe and healthy shelter and basic services as are essential for a person’s physical, psychological, social and economic well being. The object of the habitat approach is to achieve adequate shelter for all, especially the deprived urban and rural poor through an enabling approach leading to development and improvements in access to basic facilities like infrastructure, safe drinking water, sanitation, electricity etc.
The Constitution of India places rural housing in the domain of State Governments and the Panchayati Raj Institutions. Central Government has been implementing IAY as part of the enabling approach to shelter for all, aking cognizance of the fact that rural housing is one of the major anti-poverty measures for the marginalised. The house is recognised not merely as a shelter and a dwelling place but also an asset which supports livelihood, symbolises social position and is also a cultural expression. A good home would be in harmony with the natural environment protecting the household from extreme weather conditions, has the required connectivity for mobility and acilities for economic activities.