The Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act of 1956 gave authorities statutory powers to declare, improve, clear and redevelop slums and to control eviction of their occupants. It framed the early post-independence approach of designating insanitary areas for clearance or in-situ improvement, and underpinned Delhi's jhuggi-jhopri clearance and resettlement drives. The model spread to other states through their own slum legislation. It set the legal terms within which slum clearance and the later shift to upgrading and tenure would be debated.
It created the legal framework for slum clearance, improvement and eviction control that shaped Indian housing-of-the-poor policy for decades.
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