Page 7 - HUDCO BEST PRACTICE AWARDS

foreWorD

While urbanisation is an inevitable phenomenon impacting human habitat worldwide, the pace of urbanization is very fast in India. The population of urban India was 377 million
according to 2011 census and expected to increase two-fold by the year 2035. This type of rapid growth of urban population would naturally transform our country from rural
to urban nation soon. The Government of India has been facing a steep challenge in providing resources to the urban settlements in the form of infrastructure, energy and
other related facilities, in addition to housing solutions. While extending these facilities to urban India, aspects like environmental protection, livelihood issues, environmental
sustainability, etc. are to be given utmost importance for inclusive development. Therefore, the only way to deal with the situation is application of environment friendly, cost
effective, self remunerative technologies in an innovative way. In this context, Government of India had launched two very important flagship programmes, namely Housing for
All (Urban) – Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojona and Smart Cities Mission, in order to tackle the challenges of urbanization in India.
Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO), being the subordinate CPSE of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has been assisting the Ministry in all
initiatives of Government of India, in the field of Habitat Management in the country for the last fifty years. As per the primary mandate of HUDCO, it has been extending loan
assistance for various housing and urban development initiatives of the Government in a big way. Other areas where HUDCO has been providing support are for promotion
of cost effective & environment friendly technologies, consultancy, capacity building, research and documentation, CSR etc. in the habitat settlements. HUDCO has also been
working as a ‘Think Tank’ of the Ministry in formulating policies and guidelines for various Action Plan Schemes from time to time.
Human Settlement Management Institute (HSMI) was established in the year 1985 as the Research and Training Wing of HUDCO. Since then, HSMI has been involved in carrying
out research activities including documentation as well as imparting trainings to the urban managers upto grass-root level, as capacity building measures, to deal with the
challenges in formulation, implementation and maintenance of efficient housing and infrastructure projects. HSMI has also been organising capacity building programmes in the
sector for international professionals very successfully, on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs, under bilateral and multilateral funding programmes. Prestigious in-service
programmes of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) are also being organised by HSMI to appraise the officials of All India services about various GoI Action Plan
Schemes for effective implementation of the same in various States.
HUDCO Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Conditions was instituted in the year 2011-12 and HSMI has been coordinating this activity. Entries are invited through
the network of HUDCO Regional Offices at State level from Government as well as private stakeholders under seven categories viz. (i) Environment Management, Energy
Conservation & Green Building; (ii) Urban Transport; (iii) Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation & Rehabilitation; (iv) Housing, Urban Poverty & Infrastructure; (v) Sanitation; (vi)
Urban Design & Regional Planning, Inner City Revitalization & Conservation; and (vii) Urban Governance. These Awards are selected through Expert Committees constituted
with eminent professionals in the field who has been evaluating entries from various stakeholders. A compendium of award winning entries is published by HSMI annually, by
compiling details of such entries. The awards for the concluded financial year are presented during the subsequent HUDCO foundation day in April and the compendium for the
year previous to the same is released in the function.
As a regular annual assignment, HSMI has received entries under HUDCO Award for best practices for the year 2019-20. This year being the Golden Jubilee Year of HUDCO, a
special issue of compilation of all the award winning best practices since introduction of HUDCO Best Practices Award in 2011-12 has been published in the shape of a Coffee
Table Book.
This initiative is aimed at bringing together the best practices in habitat management sector by various government and private enterprises for the last almost one decade, in
different parts of the country. I am optimistic that the coffee table book would be regarded as a reference document to disseminate the valuable information on technological
knowhow in successful implementation of more innovative projects in the urban development sector.
In the context of smart cities, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India opined that a bottom-up approach would be followed where the onus would be on local bodies rather than states
or the Centre to develop them. In view of that, the publication would work as a knowledge sharing tool for stakeholders at field level in effective implementation of habitat related
schemes, with a broader perspective of making HUDCO stronger in tackling the challenges of urbanization efficiently, in our own way.

New Delhi M Nagaraj
16 August, 2020 Chairman & Managing Director, HUDCO
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