Right to shelter
Topic: Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Citizenship"; Class 11, Ch 2 "Rights in the Indian Constitution"
Meaning
The right to shelter means that a person has a right to a decent place to live. The Supreme Court read it into Article 21 (the right to life and personal liberty) in Shantistar Builders (1990). The Court's reasoning was that "life" means more than "animal existence" (just staying alive), and a dignified life needs shelter just as it needs food and clothing. It is a positive right: it asks the State to provide something, not just to leave people alone. It is hard to enforce because money for it is often not set aside.
Example
NCERT exercises point out that India has about three million homeless people in its cities. Night shelters exist for fewer than 5% of them. This shows how far the paper right is from what happens in practice.
Don't confuse with
- Right to livelihood: recognised in Olga Tellis (1985), the Bombay pavement dwellers case. It protects a person's means of earning a living from being taken away without fair procedure. It does not promise a home, and it gives no right to a job.
Related concepts
- Right to life and personal liberty
- A.K. Gopalan case
- Procedure established by law
- Due process of law
- Maneka Gandhi case
- Golden triangle
- Right to live with human dignity
- Right to livelihood
- Olga Tellis case
- Right to health