Report of the Regional Level Cosultation held at Myiladuthurai in Nagapattinam District on 25th January 2007

This was the second regional consultation organised by ISED , in Mayiladuthurai of Nagapattinam District on 25th Janaury 2007. The meet was held at the Hotel Chilambu

There were various representatives of NGOs from Pondicherry, Nagapattinam, Vellore, Thiruvannamalai & Kancheepuram districts. Apart from NGOs, an experienced Professor from the Sociology Dept of Annamalai University, Chidambaram [ Cuddalore district ],a Journalist and a Representative
from CARE PLAN [ a donor NGO who is now involved in a housing project for the Tsunami affected people in Sirkali Taluk ] also participated. The District Panchayat Councilor and the Gram Panchayat President were also present.



2007
 Shirley Rebello

Mr.Logonathan of ISED opened the meeting by briefly speaking about the habitat conditions in the rural areas of India and the need for a separate Policy for Rural Housing & Habitat. He also stressed that the Draft Policy prepared by basin - SA, due to the initiative of DA had to be studied well in the group discussion because there was a need to provide further inputs to the Draft NRHP, a proposal which has already been submitted to the Govt. of India
The process of the formulation of the Draft National Rural Habitat Policy by basin - SA initiated by DA was also explained .

Prof. Dr. J. Krishnamurthy, Sociology Dept, Annamalai University then shared the various aspects to be kept in mind while formulating a Rural Habitat Policy at the National Level,,for example, how the housing needs for tribals would differ from coastal to plain areas.

Participants then went on to discuss various issues like
innfrastructure in rural area, land access and management, access to finance, employment opportunities in the Habitat Sector & capacity building of Rural Workers. Effective monitoring and easy access to information was also discussed.

Participants then went on give suggestions and solutions to be incoprporated in the Draft Policy on NRHP. Based on the group’s presentations, Mr. Logonathan concluded the meet by sharing his views for the effective implementation of the proposed National Rural Habitat Policy.