A/HRC/34/51/Add.1 minorities, and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. In the light of the diverse housing needs across the country, the Government must consider investing more in alternative housing policies that better suit those who have scarce or no resources: people who are homeless, living on pavements and informal settlements and those who face traditional practices of exclusion and discrimination, as well as members of the growing middle-class in urban areas who are not able to access affordable rentals owing to the lack of availability. 84. Recognizing and implementing housing as a human right in existing programmes and in new legislation would also set India on track for meeting its international commitments to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (particularly target 11.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals) and the New Urban Agenda. 85. In the light of those conclusions, the Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to the central and state governments: (a) Adopt national legislation with explicit recognition of the right to adequate housing without discrimination on any ground. The legislation must be based on national and international human rights standards and commitments; (b) Address homelessness as a human rights priority with a view to eliminating it by 2030, in keeping with target 11.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals. In that regard: (i) The structural causes of homelessness in urban and rural India must be identified, including in relation to access to land and housing, affordability and the lack of specific measures in favour of people without an income; (ii) Homeless shelters must be understood in the context of a housing continuum that includes a range of longer-term housing options considered by local and subnational governments for the homeless population; (iii) The National Urban Livelihoods Mission guidelines must be implemented for the construction of shelters, ensuring that shelters for different and particular population groups like families, women leaving violent relationships, street connected children and youth are established; (c) Institute a national moratorium on forced evictions and demolitions of homes. Enact legislation to guide forced evictions that stipulates that forced evictions can only occur in the most exceptional of circumstances, once all other alternatives have been pursued, in strict compliance with international human rights law. Third party actors should also be regulated and monitored in that regard. Where states already have such a moratorium in place, the central government must comply. When evictions are required as a result of valid health and safety risks, governments must ensure that resettlement takes place in a time-bound manner, ensuring meaningful consultation with those who are directly affected, that fair compensation is awarded and that resettlement housing is adequate, as prescribed by international human rights law; (d) Survey and provide legal recognition of all existing informal settlements and prioritize in situ upgrading and rehabilitation, with secure tenure for all inhabitants, based on meaningful participation. Provide existing informal settlements, especially where rehabilitation is not planned, with proper latrines, access to water and sanitation and regular garbage collection; (e) Central and state governments should put in place effective and timely mechanisms to collect and systematically update data on a number of housing-related 20