Draft “National Rural Housing & Habitat Policy”

PREAMBLE

Shelter is universally recognized as a basic human need next only to food and clothing. The right to adequate housing has been widely interpreted as a human right in international, and national forums. This right is considered integral to the realization of the right to live with dignity.  The Government is thus, obliged to respect, protect and fulfill its citizens’ need for housing. There is urgency for addressing housing shortage as a major part of the country’s population continues to live in inadequate housing conditions.

 At the same time, investment in housing accelerates the pace of development and has a high multiplier effect on income and employment. The earlier National Habitat Policy of 1998 did not adequately address the specific concerns of the rural areas. The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy of 2007 deals with housing for urban areas only.  The country clearly needs a ‘Rural Housing & Habitat Policy’ to ensure that the specific character, priorities and potential of life in rural India are adequately and realistically addressed. 

Adequate housing is not just the mere provision of four walls and a roof but implies, inter alia, access to basic services such as water, sanitation, clean fuel, electricity, healthcare, education and livelihood – all of which are essential for dignified living, personal growth and social well-being in a productive society. Making these services available as part of habitat development needs to be ensured through convergence of schemes and joint efforts of all the stakeholders.  Besides, it is essential to promote the creation of sustainable and inclusive habitats to ensure balanced utilization of available resources for all sections of the society including vulnerable sections. The concerns of affordability, quality and sustainability need to be addressed by harnessing appropriate technology.           

The task of addressing rural housing needs presents unique challenges. Large segments of rural population have low levels of income and the poorest may not own house-sites. Financing options for the rural populace are either exploitative in nature or are inaccessible.  The Central and State Governments, working as partners, need to resolve the issue of homestead plots and house sites, as also to strengthen and expand the existing government support for housing for the poorest and the vulnerable. At the same time, ensuring greater credit flow into rural areas would require administrative, legal and fiscal reforms.  

The Goal of the Policy is to ensure adequate and affordable housing for all and to facilitate development of sustainable and inclusive habitats by expanding Government support, promoting community participation, self-help and public-private partnership within the framework of Panchayati Raj.

2.         Aims of the Policy

The aims of National Rural Housing and Habitat Policy are as follows:

1. To set up systems to facilitate and maintain a sustained growth of the housing stock to ensure adequate and affordable housing for all.
2. To create within the timeframe of the Twelfth Five Year Plan, adequate and affordable rural housing stock that would cater to the rural housing shortage to the extent of existing kutcha houses.
3. To provide homestead plots for the poorest and the vulnerable who do not have agricultural land or house sites.
4. To promote adequate flow of grant from Government to support housing for the poorest and the vulnerable.
5. To promote larger flow of funds from Governmental and private sources for fulfilling housing and infrastructure needs by designing innovative financial products, concessions and instruments which are correctly targeted and utilized and to also facilitate access to such funds.
6. To address the special needs of marginal and weaker sections of the society such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities, disabled, women-headed households, single women etc., in relation to housing serviced by basic amenities.
7. To develop planned rural habitats with an assembly of basic services and livelihood infrastructure that provide for dignified living and that promote healthy environment in a sustainable manner.    
8. To develop, promote and transfer use of appropriate, environment-friendly, energy-efficient and disaster-resistant technology.
9. To develop required technical and managerial capacity of delivery agents including upgradation of construction skills.
10. To strengthen the functioning of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and encourage strong partnership among civil society, public and private sectors to ensure that aims of the policy are achieved in a well coordinated manner.

3.         Specific Areas of Action

            The recommendations in critical areas of concern are as follows:

1. Land – Access and Management

An essential pre-requisite to accessing shelter in rural areas is ownership of house site. The poorest who are landless get marginalized and are unable to avail opportunities with regard to housing. Concrete and focused action alone can help achieve the goal of homestead for all in a time-bound manner. Access to land for the poorest will also trigger asset creation thereby alleviating long-term vulnerability and poverty.

 Land use planning and management is a first step for habitat development. This would promote effective utilisation of village land for housing, agriculture and industry while factoring in concerns of sustainability.

 PRIs need to have a clear role in making land available for the poorest and vulnerable while being responsible for sustainable usage of land. 

1. Gram Panchayats will have a complete record of Government, surplus, waste and community land available and its uses within its areas. For this purpose, a ‘land and resource inventory’ will be developed and maintained by the Gram Panchayats.
2. Gram Panchayats will also maintain a record of the landless and houseless. These records will be available at the village level for easy access and understanding by all.
3. PRIs will have a major role to play in land use planning and management for housing, civic infrastructure, community and livelihood infrastructure, development of greenery and afforestation, energy plantations, water bodies, earmarking land for industrial and institutional uses.
4. State Governments will develop aggregated database of available land collected at the gram panchayats. This will help in reallocation of land suitably to accommodate the demand for homestead land and habitat development.
5. Existing land use policy will be reviewed and statutory support will be given to gram panchayats for simplified land assembly and development particularly for enabling land allocation for the poorest and the vulnerable and for sustainable habitat development.
6. Attempt will be made to allot in the first instance homestead plots for the landless poorest and the vulnerable and then the below poverty line (BPL) families. Homestead plots will provide additional space in addition to mere house-sites. Such plots will cater to local requirements of livelihood, dairying, kitchen garden, etc.  Only, if adequate land is not available, house sites will be allotted.   
7. Government will facilitate the gram panchayats to allot homestead plots / housesites to the poorest and the vulnerable. 
8. State Government will be encouraged to regularize the land on which kutcha houses have been built by landless BPL families if otherwise permissible as per existing acts and rules. 
9. Wherever suitable Government land is not available, State Governments will be encouraged and incentivized to acquire/ purchase land for allotting homestead plots / house sites for the poorest and the vulnerable. 
10. Central Government will in addition also collaborate with States to fund acquisition / purchase of land where government land is not available for distribution as homestead plots.
11. Land and housing will be allotted in the name of the woman of the household.
12. Persons affected by natural disasters and relocated due to development projects will be provided appropriate land for housing by the State Government in accordance with the National Rehabilitation Policy.

3.2       Access to Finance

In the rural areas, informal sources of finance continue to be exploitative, especially for the poor. Formal finance options, on the other hand, are still few and mostly remain inaccessible to the rural population.  The poorest of the poor and the marginalized require grant support for housing.  For those in the rural areas who do not have access to grant funding for housing, access to credit is critical.  It is important to create conditions that encourage financial institutions to lend in rural areas.  Emerging successes of community-based finance mechanisms provide reasons for optimism. There is need for flexible and easily accessible credit products and appropriate institutional mechanisms that respond to the needs and conditions of the rural areas such as irregular and seasonal income streams and low cash surpluses. Success in repayment of housing loans can be enhanced through dovetailing of habitat development with income-generating opportunities for the poor.

1. The Centre / States / UTs will clearly spell out the definition of the poorest, vulnerable, BPL and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).  Rural areas will be defined as the areas under Gram Panchayat.
2. With regard to rural housing, the need for providing grant for the poorest and vulnerable and financial concessions for the BPL and EWS and access to credit by the rural populace will be recognised.
3. Central Government along with State Governments will provide grant assistance for the poorest and the vulnerable.
4. Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) will be extended to all BPLs for purpose of Rural Housing.
5. Interest Subsidy Scheme will be introduced to enable borrowers in the category of EWS to get loan at concessional and affordable rates.
6. A National Rural Shelter Fund, to be administered by the National Housing Bank (NHB) will be created to provide financial assistance to primary lending institutions (PLIs) to enable them to lend for rural housing at lower interest rates and to provide equity and debt for rural housing for small and marginal farmers, small village artisans, self-employed, etc. through institutions recognised for the purpose.
7. NHB will be allowed to access further funds through special provisions such as floatation of Capital Gains Bonds / Special Bonds as also access to Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
8. Mechanisms will be developed to encourage PLIs to enhance their credit flow to the rural populations.
9. Rural Housing and Sustainable Habitat Development will be recognised as a sub-target of the Priority Sector Lending for PLIs and target will be set for this sector.
10. In case of non-fulfilment of priority sector target for rural housing, funds will be deposited with NHB.
11. Pay-back cycles as also norms for non-performing assets will be reviewed.  
12. Appropriate risk mitigants will be evolved and introduced, to enable PLIs to increase their lending for rural housing. These will include title indemnity scheme, rural risk fund and credit guarantee scheme.
13. The Risk Weight on Rural Housing Loans will be reduced.
14. Rural housing loans will be brought under insurance so that in the event of death / permanent disability of borrower, the claims of banks are met from insurance companies, and the house is available to the legal heirs of the borrower.
15. Banks will be allowed to create Special Reserves in proportion to their lending for rural housing.
16. Income earned through rural housing and rural infrastructure loan portfolio will be exempt from Income Tax.
17. Stamp-duty and registration charges will be rationalised.  
18. Equitable mortgage created by PLIs in rural areas will be allowed to be registered without any stamp duty.
19. PLIs will actively involve Self-help groups (SHGs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to extend credit to the rural population.
20. Rural Housing micro-finance set ups will be encouraged through private sector participation with partnership arrangements with reputed Financial Institutions.
21. Appropriate and customized housing loan products will be introduced to cater to the different requirements of various segments of the rural households, SHG federations, housing cooperatives and village institutions for infrastructure development.
22. Productive housing schemes will be introduced where loan is provided both for housing and income generation. Productive housing-cum-livelihood loans will be considered at same rate of interest as housing loan, and at DRI for the BPL.
23. Government and civil society partnership will be encouraged to extend necessary support to BPL to improve their livelihood opportunities and income levels that will enable them in due course to invest in housing.
24. Livelihood and income generating schemes will be linked with savings for housing and habitat development.
25. Incentives in the form of lower interest rates for rural housing loans for energy efficient, eco-friendly habitat development by individual home owners and village mechanism will be provided by evolving appropriate rating mechanism.
26. Fiscal incentives will be extended to producers of eco-friendly appropriate construction materials in order to promote the use of these materials.
27. A National Technical Assistance Fund will be created by MoRD for technical support,  capacity building, upgradation of skill etc.  
28. Rural housing and infrastructure plan will be included in the district credit plan to be monitored by bankers coordination committees at different levels.  These plans will take into consideration the need for housing and infrastructure development as projected through annual village, block and district development plans prepared by the PRIs.
29. A cess on construction industry for projects of value 50 lakh and above will be imposed and this cess will contribute towards building up the Credit Guarantee Fund for rural housing and infrastructure lending.
30. Rural Housing will be considered on par with infrastructure in order to encourage investments in the sector.
31. Public – private partnership for development of rural housing and habitats with suitable checks and balances will be encouraged.
32. Private sector will be encouraged through fiscal concessions to invest in rural infrastructure development for provision of power, water, sanitation, waste management and other infrastructure.

3.3       Infrastructure & Habitat Development

There is need to promote access to housing, water,  hygienic  environment, power supply, medical care, education, livelihood and community infrastructure – all woven into a basket of facilities that contribute to an improved quality of life and a habitat that facilitates dignified living, with self respect.  Any one of these, without the others, is ineffective in improving the quality of life, while together their impact is much greater. At the same time, rural infrastructure development will enhance local skills and capacities leading to development of rural areas.   

1. Habitat development will be promoted and will necessarily include provision of drinking water, sanitation, waste disposal, power supply and roads. Attempt will also be made to provide for clean fuel, education, healthcare, recreation and livelihood infrastructure in the neighborhood.
2. To enable planned development, Master Plans along with Regional and District plans will be prepared and updated by concerned agencies at State and district level.
3. Gram panchayats will be responsible for developing, and managing the village infrastructure for the purpose of habitat development.  Technical support will be provided to the gram panchayats on need basis.
4. Infrastructure planning will be based on local needs and will involve consultation of the community. It will be sensitive to needs of women, elderly, children and disabled persons and will take into account diversities in lifestyle of rural communities.
5. Civil society organizations, academic and professional institutions will be involved to extend professional support for habitat development.
6. Infrastructure will be designed and implemented in tandem with relevant policies and guidelines of corresponding departments and other line ministries.
7. Flexible access to resources from various schemes will be encouraged and permitted for the development and maintenance of basic infrastructure.
8. Gram panchayats will be empowered to mobilize finances for habitat development through the generation of revenue from common lands, forests and other community resources including economic infrastructure. 
9. Investment by Central, State and Local Governments will be enhanced to improve the availability of basic infrastructure and services in the rural areas.
10. Various strategies will be devised to encourage the flow of private sector funds to develop rural housing and infrastructure. These could include increase of FSI norms, tax exemption on steel and cement, tax benefits during construction, single window clearance, providing land etc.

3.4       Sustainability Concerns

One cannot afford to ignore the present day crisis of depletion of natural resources and degradation of the environment caused mainly due to human activities.  Housing and habitat development will have to be designed keeping in mind efficient and sustainable management of resources.   

1. Sustainability will include recycling of waste materials, efficient use of energy, use of renewable sources of energy, rainwater  harvesting, water conservation, use of local materials, afforestation and conservation of natural resources.
2. Panchayats and other stakeholders will be sensitised about the need for sustainability and will be responsible for developing sustainable housing and habitats.
3. Efforts will be made to promote local building materials based on recycling of agricultural and industrial waste.
4. Use of locally available, sustainable materials such as bamboo, wherever it can be grown in abundance will be particularly encouraged.
5. Use of renewable resources for decentralized power generation will be encouraged.
6. Water bodies / water channels need to be conserved with special emphasis on keeping the flood plains of tropical rivers free from construction or encroachment. Efforts will be made to protect large depressions from being filled up since they are natural drainage points for conservation of water and can be developed as suitable water bodies.
7. Social forestry will be encouraged and plantation will be taken up on community lands. Besides families will be motivated to take up plantation in and around their homes.
8. Home owners using sustainable / low energy building materials will be given incentives like credit at a rate lower than the prevalent market rates.
9. Small and micro enterprises involved in the production of sustainable / green building materials will be given rebate on taxes / duties.
10. Innovative strategies like carbon credits will be leveraged to promote sustainable practices in habitat development.

3.5       Technology support and its transfer

 Appropriate designs for houses should involve adequate consideration for cultural, geo-climatic, environmental and livelihood concerns. Such designs result in houses that are culturally acceptable, durable, safe, healthy, environmentally sustainable, affordable and are equipped with basic amenities. Construction of such houses will involve the adaptation of indigenous technologies, the use of locally appropriate building materials and cost effective technologies. There is need to develop technology and equip the local communities, delivery agents  and government agencies  with adequate knowledge and skills with regard to various alternative technologies and processes. 

1. While no type designs will be prescribed, designs which provide for basic amenities (water, toilet and electricity), good ventilation, smokeless chulhas and kitchen garden, suit occupational requirements and meet local needs of dairying, storage of agricultural produce, etc., will be promoted. 
2. Technology based on local materials, affordability, sustainability and norms for disaster safety will be encouraged.
3. Central and State Government will invest in technology development, promotion, application and dissemination of these technologies.
4. Panchayats will be equipped with suitable knowledge bank of technological inputs for the effective monitoring of house and habitat construction.
5. Skilled workers like masons, plumbers, carpenters and construction related artisans will be identified and trained.
6. Women are major participants as labour, both skilled and unskilled in the house construction industry and will be given special training.
7. Standardisation of various building components, based on local conditions will be emphasised so as to get better quality products.
8. Local enterprises for supply of cost-effective materials will be promoted to play a greater role in rural habitat development.
9. Special attention will be given to disaster prone areas which have been identified by the vulnerability atlas of the country through the incorporation of disaster resistant designs in house construction.
10. Disaster resistant practices will be included in all habitat and housing schemes promoted by the government as well as Housing Financial Institutions.
11. Regional nodal agencies will be designated to provide advice on disaster resistant construction practices.
12. The Rural Building Centres spread all over the country will be geared up so that the building technologies that they specialise in are employed.
13. Transfer of proven cost-effective building materials and technologies, from ‘lab to land’ will be intensified through institutions at the village or district level. 
14. Networking of implementing agencies with R&D institutions will be promoted to bridge the gap between the availability, dissemination and deployment of the latest technologies.
15. Technology business incubator centres will be set up for commercialisation of new sustainable technologies for habitat development. 

3.6       Delivery Mechanisms and Capacity Development

State and district functionaries play a central role in the housing and habitat development in rural areas. The PRIs have to take a lead in micro-planning and prioritising housing and habitat development needs. The potential of self-help groups in rural housing needs to be recognised.  NGOs have been reluctant to enter the area of rural housing and they need to be involved and activated. The critical role played by the targeted beneficiaries has to be recognised. The role of private sector and manufacturing units will have to be harnessed suitably. Effective  delivery will require capacity building of all the stakeholders involved in housing and habitat development. 

1. The district / block functionaries will play a central role in the delivery mechanism and their capacity will be enhanced for planning and effective delivery of house and habitat development. For this purpose, a rural housing and habitat cell will be created at the district level and at each sub-divisional level.
2. The capacity of Panchayats will be enhanced to deepen the understanding of housing and habitat needs and the linkage with sustainability and livelihood, the availability of resources and the role to be played by them. 
3. SHGs will serve as a useful link in orienting people to various financing options for accessing housing and also for extending credit for rural housing.  As one of their many activities, self-help groups can also take up housing and habitat with the sites and services coming under their common ownership.
4. NGOs can play the role of facilitator for all the aspects related to rural housing and habitat i.e., design, technology, finance and supervision. Government will recognise the role of NGOs, and provide them the necessary technical and financial support in their facilitation.
5. Government agencies will be identified / set up and private developers involved for developing wherever feasible, group housing schemes along with sites and services.
6. Capacity development of households for participating in planning, design and monitoring of construction through Panchayats with the support from technical institutes will be promoted.
7. Rural Housing will require greater participation of engineers, architects and masons and their services will be made available.
8. Availability of adequate number of manufacturing units will be ensured.
9. States will provide decentralised training. Several schemes of the government for imparting training and skill enhancement will be converged to integrate efforts in this direction. Building centres will provide decentralised training, both for men and women. Capacity building of producers of building materials will be serviced through technical institutions at the State and District levels.
10. Besides training and capacity development programmes, exposure visits and experience sharing programmes will be organised.
11. Innovative building materials, cost-effective, environment–friendly house construction practices, construction techniques, and energy optimising features will be made an integral part of the curricula in architecture, engineering colleges, polytechnics and training institutions in order that their use and application can be mainstreamed. 
12. The private sector, especially large construction companies, the cement manufacturing industry and related corporate agencies, will be encouraged to support the development of improved skill base. 
13. Flexibility at all levels will be promoted in planning, implementation, technology choices and accessing financial resources.
14. Marginalized groups and the various stakeholders at all levels of decision will be involved in planning, design and management of housing and habitat development.
15. The State Governments will prepare an Action Plan to implement the National Policy.  The State Government may also formulate the State Policy in line with the National Policy.

3.7       Monitoring and Access to Information

Several problems related to effective housing & habitat development can be addressed through consistent monitoring and transparent information flow. At the field level social audit is a powerful means of monitoring. . IT solutions can be very effective both for monitoring and information flow. 

1. High level Monitoring Committees will be set up at the Central and State Government level to periodically review the implementation of the National Policy and the various related Schemes.
2. A Management Information System in the housing and habitat sector based on IT systems will be set up to strengthen monitoring.
3. Village and block level data will be collated at the district and state level and fed into the national level MIS, to keep track of the progress.
4. Panchayats will  be enabled to play an effective role in information dissemination and monitoring through extensive use of information and communication technologies.
5. Participatory monitoring at the local level with representation from the households, Panchayats and civil society as part of social audit will be set in place.
6. The planning of housing and habitat infrastructure at various levels will be available for public scrutiny under the Right to Information framework.
7. Complete information related to local building codes, norms and specifications especially in relation to sustainable habitat building and safe construction will be made available.
8. Information related to land, pricing, local resources and materials will also be made available. 
9. A Rural Housing and Habitat Report will be prepared every two years that will keep track and report on the progress in developing of rural housing habitats and their quality. Evaluation will be done at district level and the findings will be aggregated at the State and National levels. 

4.         Agency Roles and Responsibilities

4.1       Central Government will

1. Set up institutional arrangements to operationalise National Rural Housing and Habitat Policy. 
2. Advise and guide respective State Governments to adopt and implement the National Rural Housing and Habitat Policy in a time bound manner.
3. Continue to pursue land reforms with focus on revision of laws, simplification of procedural framework and allotment of homestead plots.
4. Devise macroeconomic policies to enable flow of resources to the housing and infrastructure sector.
5. Make the necessary arrangements for enabling flow of fund under National Rural Shelter Fund, Credit Guarantee Fund and Technical Support Fund.
6. Ensure integration of the habitat policy with land use policy, water policy, mining policy, environment policy and other related policies.
7. Support and promote R&D in Housing and Habitat technology and capacity building systems.   
8. Set up and monitor a nation-wide Management Information System on Rural Housing.
9. Set up a high level Monitoring Committee at the Central Government level to periodically review, monitor and oversee processes of planning and implementation of National Rural Housing and Habitat Policy.

4.2       State Governments will

1. Formulate and prepare the State Rural Housing and Habitat Policy (SRHHP) and the Action Plans and monitor progress.
2. Facilitate allotment of homestead plots to the poorest and the vulnerable.
3. Provide State contribution towards schemes of Government of India and provide State contribution towards support for BPL housing in rural areas. 
4. Prepare and update Master Plans along with District Plans and Regional Plans through concerned agencies.
5. Promote and provide incentives to the local private sector and corporate sector for undertaking rural housing and habitat development projects in the states.
6. Prepare medium term and long term strategies for tackling problems relating to provision of adequate water supply, drainage, sewerage, sanitation, waste management, power supply and transport connectivity.
7. Promote decentralized production of building materials, and facilitate training of habitat services providers.
8. Ensure development and adaptation of indigenous building technologies to ensure disaster safety and environmental sustainability in buildings.
9. Review defunct Building Centres and bolster their capacity to function as habitat resource centres at the block / district level in a financially self-sustaining mode.
10. Facilitate training of Panchayats for effective design, implementation and monitoring of habitat and livelihood initiatives of the State.
11. Develop appropriate Management Information System for different level of governance.  

4.3 District level Governments will

1. Compile Habitat Action Plans at district level and monitor implementation.
2. Ensure allotment of homestead plots to the poorest and the vulnerable.
3. Facilitate access to credit for rural housing.
4. Facilitate planning of infrastructure services including safe water supply, water disposal, roads, energy, public transport, power supply, and health, educational and recreational facilities.
5. Facilitate implementation of habitat development programmes sponsored by the government.
6. Effectively enforce regulatory measures for planned development.
7. Facilitate decentralized supply of building materials and skills and capacity building programmes of masons and other artisans. 
8. Devise capacity building programmes for district and village level functionaries.
9. Ensure establishment and effective functioning of Information Centres at block and village levels for disseminating information related to technology and habitat development.

4.4 Panchayats and Local Bodies will

1. Develop, maintain, update the “Land and Resource Inventory” and the list of landless  / houseless / poorest / vulnerable / BPL / EWS households eligible for government support. 
2. Identify specific housing shortage and consolidate village level Housing and Habitat Action Plans based on housing, infrastructure and related livelihood needs of the people.
3. Provide homestead land through land assembly and sharing of Panchayat lands under its jurisdiction.
4. Play a significant role in accessing finance for the housing sector. 
5. Participate in the implementation of government schemes at the local level and monitor quality.
6. Facilitate and monitor development of sustainable housing and infrastructure through convergence, mobilising resources, usage of appropriate technology and capacity building.
7. Promote participation of rural families in planning and implementation of housing and habitat infrastructure development.
8. Undertake management of village and community infrastructure, including water bodies, roads and energy infrastructure.
9. Promote a healthy environment with special emphasis on plantation.
10. Develop suitable models for private sector’s participation in assembly of land and its development for housing in accordance with the Master Plan.

4.5 Financial Institutions will

1. Reassess their strategies to be more inclusive in terms of both the poor and coverage of backward areas.
2. Ensure inclusion of rural housing and habitat requirements in the annual district plans.
3. Develop flexible, customized finance products that address the needs of the rural housing and facilitate easy repayment by the rural clients.
4. Adopt a more flexible and innovative approach in credit appraisal norms.
5. Facilitate use of safe and sustainable construction practices and building systems by offering financial incentives for application of these practices.

4.6 Civil Society will

1. Promote common public opinion in favour of safe and healthy habitat environment and re-orient the people, government functionaries and other stakeholders towards holistic habitat development.
2. Aggregate rural customers for making large scale housing and habitat interventions effective and manageable and also private investments viable.
3. Participate in Social Audits of habitat development initiatives at the village level.
4. Facilitate exposure and access to innovative technological and institutional solutions for habitat development by panchayats.
5. Provide services related to capacity development of Panchayats, SHGs, artisans and other agents of planning and implementation at the village and district levels.
6. Provide monitoring support to Rural infrastructure development programmes at village level. 

4.7 Private Sector will

1. Develop innovative ways to realize the potential of rural areas as viable markets    for private sector products and services with regard to habitat development.
2. Customize habitat related products and services for rural markets and promote local entrepreneurship for the same.
3. Work with panchayats and Government for developing viable rural habitat initiatives that can be effectively implemented.
4. Invest in the development of habitat infrastructure in village in partnership with panchayats and Government.
5. Use the Corporate Social responsibility mandate to promote housing and habitat development in rural areas. 
6. Partner with academic and technology development agencies for research and development for low-cost building material and sustainable technology development.
7. Provide services related to capacity development of rural work-force as well as their absorption in industry.

4.8 Research and Technology Transfer Agencies will

1. Integrate new sustainable technology with conventional and traditional building practices.
2. Develop regionally applicable technologies that promote use of locally available raw materials and reduce the use of scarce resources.
3. Develop guidelines and new technical options for safe construction in regions vulnerable to natural disasters for new constructions as well as strengthening of the existing ones.
4. Share information and technologies with the stakeholders and facilitate awareness creation on new, innovative and sustainable methods of construction.
5. Work with Panchayats / Government / NGOs / SHGs for imparting training and knowledge to rural communities and other stakeholders.
6. Lead the standardization of various building components based on local conditions.
7. Work with the Financial Institutions to develop guidelines and eco-rating for materials and technologies for obtaining incentives. 
8. Help transfer proven cost-effective building materials and technologies, from 'lab to land', through institutions at the village or district level.

5.         Action Plan  

1. The Central Government will encourage and support the States / UTs in preparing the Action Plan to implement the “National Rural Housing and Habitat Policy” as also in preparing the “State Rural Housing and Habitat Policy”.
2. The Central Government will enable and facilitate the States / UTs in implementing their Action Plans.
3. The Centre and States / UTs will undertake the necessary legal, fiscal and administrative reforms to achieve the objectives of the National & State’s Policy.
4. The Centre and States / UTs will make an assessment of the budget support required as per the policies and action plans and provide for the same.
5. The financial institutions led by NHB will set in motion the development of appropriate rural housing and habitat financial products as well as the setting up of mechanisms to deliver and monitor the utilization of these products for the various sections of rural society.
6. In order to ensure effective and time-bound implementation of the policy, the National Rural Housing and Habitat Mission (NRHHM) will be set up. The NRHHM will comprise of seven sub-missions. The objectives of the mission and the sub-missions are detailed in the annexure.
7. A monitoring framework at the Centre / States / UTs level will be set up to periodically review the implementation of the Policy and the concomitant Action Plan.
8. A high level monitoring committee at the Central Government level will be set up to periodically review the implementation of the Policy and to suggest modifications to the Policy as deemed necessary.

Annexure

National Rural Housing and Habitat Mission

Objective of the Mission 5 

The National Rural Housing and Habitat Mission will ensure the provision of adequate,   affordable safe basic housing, services and habitat for all the poorest, and vulnerable BPL households in rural India by 2018, in a mission mode through a mix of Central and State assistance and banking sector DRI support.

It will also create the institutional capacity; appropriate financial arrangements; incentives and enabling conditions for the building materials, skill upgradation and technology supply to enable the extension of these houses and sustainable provision of housing to other rural households via self-help, small entrepreneurs and other private providers.

Objectives of the Sub-Missions  

The NRHHM will be composed of seven sub missions:

1. House-sites for the landless Sub-Mission  will provide house-sites to the rural BPL households that do not possess a house site or agricultural land.  This priority will be targeted at the poorest and the vulnerable groups. Such groups will be identified by the States. 
2. In-situ Kutcha House Reconstruction Sub-Mission will provide for the in-situ construction of basic core house built out of appropriate permanent materials with a minimum plinth area of 20 sqm on existing house-sites, where the building is kutcha. The definition of a kutcha house will be based on State Government norms.
3. Upgradation of the Vulnerable Houses Sub-Mission will be targeted at the upgradation and strengthening of vulnerable rural houses in multi-hazard prone regions as defined by the National Vulnerability Atlas of India. This Sub-Mission will also draw upon resources from the National Seismic Safety Programme and the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Programme. 
4. Village Infrastructure and Habitat Development Sub-Mission will enable the provision and access of basic village infrastructure and services for water supply, sanitation, road and power in a planned manner at cluster and household level as per the norms of Bharat Nirman programme. In addition, access to clean fuel, education, health, social and telecom infrastructure will be facilitated.
5. Building Livelihood and Technology Development Sub-Mission:  will enable the creation of sustainable employment via the construction and upgradation of NRHHM houses. The Sub-Mission will focus on the creation of village, sub-Block and Block level micro and mini-building enterprises that will produce appropriate building materials to ensure that supply bottlenecks do not constrain programme functioning. It will also provide on-the-job training and certification of semi-skilled and skilled building construction artisans and workers and the integration of appropriate building technologies into mainstream building practice. It will enable the development and dissemination of appropriate building technology packages for each major region of each state.  
6. Financial Mobilisation and Delivery Sub-Mission will focus on development and delivery of financial products via SHGs, micro-credit organizations and the banking system as deemed appropriate at local level. 
7. Institutional Capacity Building and Community Mobilisation Sub-Mission  will focus on the establishment, management and coordination of the Mission at national, state, district, block and village level. It will also provide incentives and enabling conditions for the building materials, skill upgradation and technology supply.