 bill no  55 of  2009 the constitution (amendment) bill, 2009 byshri l rajagopal, mpa billfurther to amend the constitution of indiabe it enacted by parliament in the sixtieth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title1 this act may be called the constitution (amendment) act, 2009 2 after article 21a of the constitution, the following article shall be inserted,—insertion of new article 21b right to shelter parliament may, by law, determine statement of objects and reasonseven after six decades of independence, crores of citizens are still homeless they have to suffer the elements in all its fury—be it winter, summer or rainy season the problem of homelessness is increasing day-by-day both in rural and urban areas population explosion and other social and economic factors are the major reasons for housing shortage in the country due to acute shortage of houses in the country, lakhs of poor people are forced to live on the pavements, footpaths, bus shelters, under flyovers and bridges, as they cannot afford houses of their own crores of people are living in jhuggi and jhopris, kutcha and semi-pucca houses which lack basic facilities like sanitation, electricity, clean water, etc shelter is one of the basic human needs it is necessary that the government should come forward to ensure adequate housing for homeless citizens not only because it is their right, but, because it is an investment that would guarantee a healthy and satisfied citizensthe supreme court has recognized the right to housing by bringing it within the ambit of right to life at the same time, housing right has been recognized and reaffirmed in all international and regional covenants, which have been ratified by our country hence, the central and the state governments are under legal obligation to provide adequate housing to the millions of people who are living in absolute homelessness therefore, it has become more necessary to incorporate right to housing as a fundamental right in the constitutionthe bill seeks to achieve the above objectivenew delhi;l rajagopaljune 29, 2009 financial memorandumclause 2 of the bill provides for incorporation of right to shelter in the fundamental rights of the citizens the bill, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india at this stage, it is not possible to give an exact amount of expenditure to be involved however, it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees ten thousand crore is likely to be involveda non-recurring expenditure of about rupees two thousand crore is also likely to be involved annexure extract from the constitution of india      right to education21a the state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the state may, by law, determine  lok  sabha————— a billfurther to amend the constitution of india—————(shri l rajagopal, mp)gmgipmrnd—2803ls(s5)—13-07-2009