A/HRC/34/51/Add.1 there is a shortage of 40 million rural housing units and that 90 per cent of rural households requiring housing are living below the poverty line. 18 17. India faces sizeable gaps in infrastructure and essential services required for the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing: one third of households do not have access to electricity and close to 70 per cent lack clean, safe and affordable energy for cooking. In 2015, the estimated total of piped water in urban areas was 54 per cent, while in rural areas it was only 16 per cent. The figures on sanitation also deserve attention: in 2015, in urban areas, 63 per cent of sanitation facilities improved, with 10 per cent open defecation remaining; in rural areas, 28 per cent of sanitation facilities improved, with a striking 61 per cent open defecation rate.19 18. The size and scale of India, coupled with its diverse population and complex federalism, impose particular challenges with respect to the implementation of the right to housing. For example, policymakers working to implement the right to housing must grapple with stark contrasts and tensions between economic development and public investment in affordable housing, addressing urban and rural needs, the growth of megacities in parallel with tier-2 and tier-3 urban centres, and high-end serviced neighbourhoods and new developments in the face of dire living conditions in new and old settlements. Policymakers have to navigate those differences and tensions while determining how best to address the rights of those who are most disadvantaged in terms of housing: homeless people, pavement dwellers, informal settlement residents and increasing numbers of persons displaced from rural areas. A. National housing policies 19. There have been several attempts to establish national housing policies across all states in India. In 1988, the first National Housing Policy was announced together with the creation of the National Housing Bank to expand housing finance. In 1998, a National Housing and Habitat Policy based on a vision of “shelter for all” was unveiled, and in 2007, the goal of the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy was refined to provide affordable housing for all, with emphasis on vulnerable sections of society. Several programmes were set in motion at the time, including “slum development programmes” provision of basic services and urban renewal. 20. Since 2014, the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has launched several flagship schemes including Housing for All, Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and the Swacch Baharat Mission (Clean India Mission). Together they are “expected to significantly improve infrastructure, livability and economic productivity in urban areas” and aim to achieve “incremental and qualitative improvements in the living conditions of all urban Indians”.20 18 19 20 H.R. Khan, “Enabling affordable housing for all — issues and challenges”, inaugural address by the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India at the international conference on growth with stability in affordable housing markets, organized by the National Housing Bank and the Asia Pacific Union for Housing Finance, New Delhi, 30 January 2012. Available from www.bis.org/review/r120417f.pdf. World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation: estimates on the use of water sources and sanitation facilities, India” (updated June 2015). India, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation “India Habitat III”, p. 16 (foreword by N. Chatterjee). 7