India lives in the villages." That statement is as true today as it was more than 60 years ago. Nearly 70% of India's 1.1 billion-plus population still lives in 600,000 or so villages. If India is to be truly understood, it is the lives of these people that really count. Housing conditions are a key indicator of socio- economic development
The National Buildings Organisation (NBO) was established in 1954 as an attached office under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (the then Ministry of Works and Housing) to study of socio-economic aspects of housing issues and the increased need for housing statistics.
The policy document by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation outlines the current housing situation in India in the context of urbanisation, the large influx of population from the rural areas to urban areas in the metropolitan cities in India, the urgent need for provision of housing and basic services to the population in the urban areas and promotion of sustainable habitats in the country.
But through centuries, a good portion of the Indian population has been landless. Agricultural labour and the people with casual work, living in squalid surroundings, and their dwellings have been woefully deficient in the physical and social requirements of shelter.
The building materials in most rural areas are made predominantly of biomass or mud and about 75 per cent of the houses are classified as semi or non-permanent structures.
In addition , basic infrastructure facilities such as protected drinking water supply are yet to reach most of our villages.
There are several Lakhs of small houses which does not have privacy, adequate space, lighting and ventilation for routine household activities..
The crux of housing problem is - the population to be housed.
The housing problem has grown steadily over the past few decades, both in rural and in urban areas.
There have been few systematic surveys of housing conditions in India.
The Central Statistical Organization are taking steps, in collaboration with State statistical bureau, to collect data on housing and building materials, both in the public and in the private sectors.
Increasing building activity and construction has become an important factor in the regulation of the economy.
Out of every 100 households in rural areas, 36 lived in pucca (brick and mortar) structures, 43 lived in semi-pucca (semi-bricked) structures, and the remaining 21 in kutcha (un-bricked) structures.
These are amongst the findings of an exhaustive nation-wide survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) of the ministry of statistics and programme implementation on housing conditions in India, called the 'National Sample Survey 58' (NSS 58).
State wise shortage of housing in rural areas Source: Census of India, 2001
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