A 30-page document Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation Govt. of India is the draft of the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2005. To explain the need for such a policy, the preamble of the paper says, “Shelter is one of the basic human needs just next to food and clothing. The need for a National Housing and Habitat Policy emerges from the growing requirements for shelter and related infrastructure. These requirements are growing in the context of the rapid pace of urbanization, increasing migration from rural to urban centers in search of livelihood, the mismatch between demand and supply of sites & services at affordable cost, and the inability of most new and poorer urban settlers to access formal land markets in urban areas due to high costs and their own lower incomes, leading to a non-sustainable situation. This policy intends to promote sustainable development of habitat in the country, with a view to ensuring the equitable supply of land, shelter, and services at affordable prices.”