The Right To Shelter As A Determinant Of Public Health: Addressing The Human Rights Of Pavement Dwellers In Urban India
- IJLLR Journal
- Aug 29
- 1 min read
Vibhanshu Dubey, Research Assistant, Artificial Intelligence and Law, CNLU, Patna.
ABSTRACT
Shelter is foundational to human dignity and health, shaping exposure to environmental hazards, psychosocial stress, and access to essential services. In urban India, pavement dwellers—households living on sidewalks, roadside margins, and other public spaces—face extreme deprivation marked by insecure tenure, frequent evictions, and systematic exclusion from water, sanitation, and health services. This paper argues that the right to shelter, recognized under Indian constitutional jurisprudence and international human rights law, is a core social determinant of health for pavement dwellers. Drawing on case law, treaty obligations, public health evidence, and urban policy frameworks, it examines how shelter deprivation drives communicable and non-communicable disease burdens, maternal and child health risks, injury, mental distress, and malnutrition. It critiques eviction- led governance models and gaps in housing and health programs, and proposes a rights-based package including legal safeguards against forced evictions, low-cost rental and transitional housing near livelihoods, universal basic services irrespective of tenure, integrated health and social outreach, and participatory governance. Reframing shelter as a public health imperative and a justiciable right is necessary to realize equity and resilience in Indian cities.
