Why in News ?

United Nations designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day 2020 to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter.

About World Habitat Day

• The Day was established in 1985 by the United Nations General Assembly and was first observed in 1986.
• The first Monday of October is marked as World Habitat Day.
• Theme of 2020 : Housing For All – A Better Urban Future” is the theme for World Habitat Day 2020.
• World Habitat Day this year looks at the impact of the pandemic on housing in urban areas .
  • Affordable, safe and adequate housing for the urban poor has been the Indian government’s focus.

Issues Related to Housing

• Currently there are one billion people live in overcrowded settlements with inadequate housing or without houses.
  • Urban areas especially cities are now home to slightly more than half of the world’s seven billion people.
  • The poor in the region are affected by development and infrastructure needs of the rich in the cities. 
• Based on various reports, by 2030 the number will rise to 1.6 billion.
• To meet the global demand, more than 96,000 housing units will need to be completed every day.
• Some 3 billion people lack basic hand-washing facilities and sanitation issues. 
• According to ILO (International Labour Organisation), 55 per cent of the world’s population about 4 billion people do not benefit from any form of social protection.

India against the fight of Inadequate Housing

• As part of government steps to tackle Covid-19 crisis, had extended an interest subsidy scheme of 2017 till March 2021.
  • This would help the middle class families in search of affordable housing and can be consider as a temporary relief. 
  • The extension would provide a boost of ₹ 70,000 crore to the housing and construction sectors amid the pandemic-related economic crisis.
• We have a number of initiative or missions such as Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, the Smart Cities Mission, the AMRUT Mission in order to provide an adequate Housing.

Source : PIB

Topic

GS II : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

Current Affairs Compilation : 6 October 2020