ABSTRACT
The poor in Indian cities, as elsewhere in the developing world, are a disadvantaged group as far as legitimate access to land and land development rights is concerned. About 55 million people live on public land with no tenure rights and in very poor environmental conditions (GOI, 1991). To remedy the weak position of the poor, the government has undertaken a number of measures, including legitimization of irregular land occupation and improvement of basic infrastructure in informal settlements. Security of tenure, in particular, has been the subject of attention during the 1980s and 1990s, although experience shows that any form of state intervention contributes to improving the tenure situation of the poor.
