National Seminar on “Affordable Housing: Building Inclusive Society for the 21st Century India”
The National Seminar on ‘Affordable Housing’ and its Relevance in ‘Building Inclusive Society for the 21st Century India’ was organised by Centre for Tax Laws (CTL), National Law University, Delhi, betweenOctober 18-19, 2019. The Seminar had received 103 abstracts and 63 research papers, out of which 45 were selected for the participation in the Seminar. The Seminar was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Mr. Ranbir Singh and he set the momentum of the Seminar by discussing the Judgment delivered by Hon’ble Justice Mr. Yacoob while interpreting Section 26 of the South African Constitution and Right to Housing in Government of the Republic of S. Afr. v. Grootboom [2000] ZACC 19.
Thereafter, Hon’ble Justice Ms. Deepa Sharma, Member, National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, New Delhi (The Chief Guest), delivered inaugural address, where she discussed Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, along with various court pronouncements including Chameli Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (1996) 2 SCC 549, where the Supreme Court had held the, ‘Right to Shelter’ as one of the most important rights of the human beings. It was also held that housing is not about (mere) roof on head, but, adequate living space along with safe and decent structure adaptable to present needs and therefore, housing plays a pivotal role in the upbringing of the human beings and ‘affordable housing’ allows inclusiveness in the society, which is the demand of the 21st Century.
She elaborately discussed as to how the tailor-made tax policy for the affordable housing, allows both the buyer and the developer to have equal incentives at various levels to promote affordable housing. The reduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Affordable Housing from 8 per cent to 1 percent without Input Tax Credit (ITC) allows considerable reduction in the cost of the housing. In the further two days, the participants deliberated on various themes related to Affordable Housing in five technical sessions.
The first technical session was on broader policy issue related to affordable housing along with deliberations on Real Estate Regulators such as RERA. One of the participants, Mr. Sandip Sahoo, shared his field study conducted in Bengaluru City on the Dispute Redressal Mechanisms afforded under the ‘Ashraya Affordable Housing Scheme for inclusiveness towards EWS beneficiaries. The theme of the second technical session wasDispute Resolution Mechanism under the Real Estate Industry and particularly under the RERA. Ms. Leena Kumai concluded the session by discussing the contemporary issue of the interface of Swachha Bharat Abhiyan and Affordable Housing for all. The third technical session was on Challenges faced by the Real Estate Sector and it solutions.
This session also focussed on the role played by the new technologies such as, ‘Block Chain’ in digitalisation of land records, and how this would transform the Real Estate Industry and especially its effects on the ‘Affordable Housing’. The fourth technical session, was on the status of ‘Affordable Housing’ in India and the participants had critically analysed ground realities of the policy of ‘Affordable Housing’ in India. The fifth technical session focussed on other relevant issues affecting Affordable Housing, such as, ‘Sustainable Affordable Housing’, ‘Affordable housing in Smart cities’, etc.
The Seminar saw extensive participation and the interface of Advocates practicing in the fields of Real Estate and Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and also the Stakeholder, Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), New Delhi and Academia. The event encouraged deliberations on the topic of ‘Affordable Housing’ which is the need of the hour.