Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu says housing is the centre of India's Habitat goal. Addressing a function on the occasion of World Habitat Day in New Delhi today, Mr Naidu said, housing has been the central focal point of any civilization and a basic requirement of the human being. He said, Government's housing initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana aims at social inclusion so as to benefit all sections of urban and rural residents. <br/><br/>The Minister said, Housing means not only a roof over their heads but also a safe and healthy environment, affordable transport and energy, clean drinking water and other amenities. He said, by 2030, sixty per cent of the world population will be in the Urban areas and planning needs to be done for managing urbanization. Mr Naidu said, in India presently 31 per cent of population are in urban areas and it will go up in the time to come. <br/><br/>He said, cities and towns are also crucial to move a nation to higher growth path. The Minister also stressed for use of new technologies, conceptualization of new ideas and new experiments in the housing sector. <br/><br/>Mr Naidu also felicitated the winners of various competitions held for the divyang children on the occasion.