Reports Publications
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Affordable Housing in the Context of Sustainability | |
| In 2008, Development Alternatives in collaboration with Ambuja Cement and Government of Punjab work towards providing shelter to the BPL families of the village. In all, 129 affordable houses have been constructed with the cost of a single house being Rs 1.7 lakh, at around Rs 470/sq ft in Gaggar Village, Punjab. | ||
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Building upon the micro-finance experience: Enabling the rural poor to access sustainable habitat | |
A national level workshop was organized by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Development Alternatives facilitated by the basin-South Asia Regional Knowledge Platform in 2005 to look at innovative ways of enabling rural poor to access sustainable habitat through access to housing micro-finance. The Workshop brought together participants from Civil Society, Finance Institutions and Government to address critical concerns related to finance and other supporting services required by the poor to improve the quality of their habitat. The Workshop provided an opportunity for participants to develop a greater understanding of the links between livelihoods of the rural poor, their savings and habitat upgradation. Participants discussed various models of finance available to the rural poor and their delivery mechanisms. The relevance of available products and the efficiencies of delivery were debated and criteria for appropriate habitat and livelihood finance mechanisms were discussed and a direction for the future was defined. The Workshop provided a clear direction for collaboration between civil Society, Finance Agencies and Government; it defined the roles of the various stakeholders in order to accelerate the journey of the rural poor from scarcity to surplus and further access to sustainable habitat. For more details, please download the proceedings of the workshop. However Prayas, has proven that these obstacles can be conquered by introducing Cost Effective, Energy Efficient and Environment Friendly (CEEEF) technology and gender sensitive housing. With support from Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Prayas initiated a project “People’s Initiative for Housing Security in Chittorgarh District” in October 2003. Chittorgarh in South Rajasthan is mainly occupied by the Bhil tribes. A typical house in the area is built with local materials which require maintenance on monthly basis. About 80% of these houses are without windows and approximately 94% are not electrified. Poor economic status, rising prices of good quality building materials, non-availability of skilled labour are critical problems. |
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