Public Rally on Housing Rights on 2.10.2004 - Part 10

The right to adequate housing has been widely recognized and accepted as a part of the right to life by international community as well as in India. Despite having ensconced the right to housing as a part of the larger right to human dignity, right to equality, social and economic rights, the basic provisions, which form the spirit of right to housing are blatantly violated all across the country. The objective of the initiative is to monitor and stop illegal/ forced evictions and network with other organizations to evolve a joint action campaign ensuring ‘right to Housing’ is at forefront. In a national workshop organized by SLIC in Mumbai in 2000 a National Forum for Housing Rights was set up consisting of activist, lawyers and housing rights organizations from different parts of the country. We work on issue of forced eviction through campaigns, protests and solidarity marches. We help in developing local capacity by trainings and workshops. Our main work is to provide free legal assistance to homeless, and slum dwellers. The team reviews legal and administrative provisions for the urban poor. We study provisions of master plan for housing of urban poor and suggest pro-poor changes. We do networking at large scale for dissemination of data, developing strategies of intervention and also build a greater public support for the campaign