| Habitat Services for Rural Families        and Communities
           An         English daily advertises for ‘complete lifestyle experience’ for homes         for urban residents outside the city in the lap of the countryside. The         complete experience comes from designer homes that provide adequate         space and privacy for each individual in the family, attached toilets         with each of the bedrooms, well-lit and spacious kitchens, 24-hour         electricity back-up and flowing water at the touch. Well maintained         roads, street lights, security, garbage management services and         maintenance support are inclusive of the package. Community living is         supported with schools, health centres, post offices, residential         markets and connectivity to the heart of the city and tele as well as         cyber connectivity at the touch of a finger. 
 Let’s compare this to the situation of a village in Madhya Pradesh. The         poorest are entitled to Rs 35,000 as grant support and may access         another Rs 20,000 as loan to construct pucca (permanent) shelters. The         maximum that can be constructed in the above amount is a room and         cooking space with a toilet. For the better-off who need not depend on         the ‘government subsidies’, housing loans are not available to bridge         the gap between their savings and the requirement to construct a house.         Construction services are sought from local masons who may or may not be         trained to provide the best value. Running water is a distant dream as         no water supply systems exist and no services are available. Electricity         may be a single bulb if the village is electrified and provided there is         current. Roads will come from the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sarak Yojna but         not necessarily coordinated with housing development. Other public         facilities will each come from a separate public scheme in due course.         All this will happen, of course, provided financial services for the         rural families are available in the first place. The rural habitat         experience is punctuated with numerous ‘ifs’.
 
 Adequate habitat is a basic right. It is important that supports,         services and opportunities exist that can ‘enable and facilitate’ people         to access their rights. It becomes a duty of the State, therefore, to         make possible the provision of services and supports that may be         accessed by families and communities to improve their conditions. Such a         facilitation can be carried out through provisions in policies and their         application at both state and local levels. A case in point is the         liberalisation of financial services in urban areas leading to the         access by thousands of urban middle and low income families to housing         finance, of course, supported by the availability of technical services         through housing development companies across the cities.
         Let us look at some examples         where provisions of integrated services have helped rural families         access adequate habitat:         • Women Self Help Group         (SHG) members in villages of Tirucharapalli district of Tamil Nadu,         linked with the NGO SEVAI, have accessed soft loans from their         federation to construct pucca homes using eco-friendly and         cost-effective technologies such as Ferrocement and concrete block         masonry with the technical services including building materials from         the local entrepreneurial building centre – the Econ Industries. Over         the past 10 years, about 2000 families have accessed the services of         Econ Industries. 
 • Over the past six years, more than a thousand rural families have         benefited from services of the Ashraya Building Materials and Services         Bank at Chowdwar in Orissa. They have accessed eco-friendly materials         such as Stabilised Compressed Earth blocks, Micro Concrete Roofing (MCR)         tiles, RCC planks and joists and flyash blocks to construct pucca         (permanent) homes. Construction services are being accessed from locally         trained masons and soft loans are being accessed from the Orissa Housing         Finance Corporation linked by the NGO CORE, who is managing this entire         process.
 
 • In Odanthurai, a remote village in Coimbatore village the Panchayat,         working in partnership with a corporate group and a commercial bank, has         provided power, clean drinking water and waste management services for         its village - all in a profitable manner, earning recurring revenues for         village development in the process.
 
 Each of the above cases describe a successful process of housing         delivery in remote rural areas serviced by a technical support agency/         social entrepreneur that has created in its catchment area an assured         supply of eco-building materials, a cadre of delivery agents and links         to soft finance. In addition, each social entrepreneur provides a         ‘customer support service’ that include technical supports of various         kinds. Many of the families who have accessed technical and financial         services are on the borderline of what is classified as Below Poverty         Line (BPL). What is common is that all of them are linked to savings         groups or common interest groups. Such ‘islands of success’ led by civil         society organisations or the odd Panchayat exist in other states of         India as well. But the fact remains that these islands are supported by         external ‘development grants’. While all of the above-mentioned social         entrepreneurs charge a service fee from their rural customers, not all         businesses are profitable and depend on development grants’ support and         cross subsidies for their survival.
 
 If these islands are to multiply across the country, leading to Adequate         Habitat for All, supportive policies are required that will create a         favourable environment for sustainable habitat services to be delivered         to rural families.
 
 Public policy attention has primarily been on the provision of pucca         shelters for the poor through grants in terms of aid. There is a growing         recognition that unless the rural habitat in its entirety and the rural         society as a whole is addressed, the ‘provision’ of subsidies for pucca         house construction will not lead to any significant change in the         quality of life in rural areas.
 
 For this reason, the Ministry of Rural Development held a two-day         workshop earlier this year, where the objective was to consult with         government agencies, the corporate sector, civil societies, financial         institutions and academia to develop a rural housing and habitat policy         for India. Such a policy will address the need to make available and         accessible building materials and skills, finances from banks and other         sources, technical information as well as integration of infrastructure         and facilities through the various divergent schemes so that rural         society is also served as their counterparts in the cities.
 
 The Journey
 Readers of this newsletter will recall that from 2005 to 2007 the         basin-South Asia platform, with its secretariat at Development         Alternatives (DA), had led a nation-wide consultation for an inclusive         and integrated rural habitat policy for India. These consultations         resulted in a ‘proposal to the Government of India’ presented to the         Ministry of Rural Development in December 2007. This document, along         with the Report of the Parliamentary Committee on rural housing for the         14th Lok Sabha, was subsequently used by the Ministry as a base to         prepare a draft for a rural housing policy, which has been circulated to         state governments for their comments. This draft document was discussed         at a consultative workshop on June 23-24, 2008. A subsequent         sub-committee has discussed the outcomes of the workshop and it is         heartening to know that the Ministry is working on the formulation of a         rural housing and habitat policy. While the process is slow it is hoped         that the new policy, when formed, will provide sufficient enabling         provisions to fast forward the delivery of housing and habitat services         in rural areas.
 
 Capacity Building
 While it is necessary to build a decent roof over everyone’s head, the         major bottleneck is non-availability of homestead lands for all. In         addition, systemic interventions are required for capacity building and         making available a skilled work force, building materials, technical         services, financial products and services to construct the millions of         new houses and up grade the existing shelters.
 
 This is a tall order and the new policy will need to synergise with the         various other policies and schemes such as the national rehabilitation         policy, national skill development policy, the drinking water mission,         the total sanitation mission, the villages electrification programme,         etc. An alignment of plans and programmes towards the one mission of         improving the quality of life in our villages is clearly required.         Synergies between the various programmes and clear roles for all         stakeholders such as government agencies at Centre, State, district and         local levels, corporate houses, civil societies, small private players         and community groups need to be spelt out.
 
  The citizens of India wait in anticipation for a national rural housing         and habitat policy. Many agencies in parallel are already working         towards making ‘adequate Habitat for All’, a reality in rural areas.
 
 Many financial agencies under the guidance of NABARD and NHB are                  eveloping new housing finance products suited for rural families: some         enterprises and financial institutions are testing out the waters in         various parts of the country; R&D institutions are focussing on applied         research to demonstrate practical, eco-friendly, affordable materials         and technologies on ground; and civil society institutions through         development support from national and international donors (both         government and private) are demonstrating the different models of         housing, sanitation, village energy, water supply products and services.         Many construction workers’ training modules are now available and         agencies are working to set up certification systems. Cement companies         are exploring ways to deliver cost-effective and eco-friendly building         materials to rural families, and some enterprising Panchayats are         integrating various schemes and funding provisions at their disposal to         develop ‘complete habitat experiences’ for their people.
 
 The basin-South Asia platform is putting together a Lok Awas Yatra to         create awareness about these numerous experiences. The Yatra is being         designed to expose the enablers and implementers of habitat projects,         programmes and services delivery to various ways through which rural         families and communities may access adequate habitat. The Yatra will         provide an opportunity for local government functionaries to interact         with habitat projects of various kinds and to develop their own         perspectives for the development of their villages. The exchange of         experiences will result in a tool kit for local government functionaries         to facilitate habitat services on ground.         q
   Zeenat Niazizniazi@devalt.org
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