Many Indian cities today are facing trouble accommodating the continuously expanding urban poor population due to the constant inflows of rural migrants. India is home to 52,000 slums with 8 million households and many millions more living on the streets. To find housing solutions for this low-income population has long been part of the country’s national agenda. However, nation-wide efforts to provide affordable housing to the urban poor may be missing the real need of the urban low-income population.

In 2009, the government announced the Rajiv Awas Yojana, a housing scheme that accords property rights to the urban low-income population and slum dwellers. It will allow them to construct and own homes, with the lofty aim to eliminate slums from Indian cities in five years.

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