JHARGRAM DISTRICT MEETING
Every person within the country has the right to safe and adequate housing and contributes towards the enjoyment of their life under the provision of Article 21. It is the duty of the government to promote such rights and look after the fact that such rights are not violated. . In UPR II, India agreed to promote the enjoyment of human rights (138.144 and 138.13), including economic, social, and cultural rights. Though India has launched several schemes on housing and land, it has not made significant progress in realizing these rights, especially for the most marginalized. This is largely because India does not recognize housing as a human right even though it ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1979. This is evident in policies and government statements, including at UN meetings. Despite commitments to provide ‘Housing for All’ by 2022, India’s macro-economic growth paradigm promotes homelessness, forced evictions, land grabbing/alienation, and displacement. In the last four years, several cases of violations of housing and land rights have been reported across the country; the worst affected include women, children, Scheduled Castes (SC)/Dalits, Scheduled Tribes (ST), persons with disabilities, older persons, and sexual and religious minorities.
The Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to a dignified life. The right to life under the Constitution does not merely means animal existence. Life guaranteed under this Constitution does not only include physical existence. It includes the right to live with human dignity. Since the need for food to satisfy hunger is the basic necessity of life and without food life becomes impossible, the right to food is thus protected under the right to life.