Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) marks an important advance in the approach of governments to social housing for the urban poor, slums and basic public services for poor urban settlements. The Working Group of the National Advisory Council (NAC) on Urban Poverty have examined the policy and guidelines announced by the Government on Rajiv Awas Yojana and have prepared Draft Recommendations to be considered by the National Advisory Council.

This paper examines land tenure in informal urban settlements in India from a gender perspective through field research conducted in Ahmedabad in collaboration with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). The author describes the formal and informal tenure arrangements that were in place in these settlements and analyses their implications for women.

Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) for the slum dwellers and the urban poor envisages a

Land is the heart of infrastructure development. The first India Infrastructure Report (IIR), which was brought out in 2001, identified the process of land acquisition as the most important structural constraint to the development of infrastructure. This IIR 2009 to examine various facets of