This is the first Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) country report contributing to the current review of habitat policy and developments leading up to the United Nations (UN) Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), That conference and its preparation prcesses mark the third bidecennial international summit on habitat issues—will be held in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016. There states and governments will adopt a new Habitat Agenda till the year 2036.

The HLRN report for Habitat III, being submitted to the Government of India and the UN, has been endorsed by 56 organizations, social movements, and community groups across the country. It presents an indispensable analysis of India’s implementation of the Habitat Agenda, as states and governments pledged to do upon its adoption at the Habitat II conference in Istanbul in 1996. Applying the core principles and commitments of the Habitat Agenda, the HLRN report documents the status of housing and land rights in the country and highlights relevant law and policy developments over the implementation period. It also provides recommendations to the Indian government for the improvement of housing and living conditions, and to UN-Habitat and organizers for the development of a human rights-based agenda at Habitat III.