Roof above the head Qualitative assessment of rural housing in India

The development of rural housing in a manner that results in adequate, quality shelter for inhabitants of Mahatma Gandhi’s “real India” is a challenge before the nation. What are the issues confronting rural housing development in India? The litany of its woes is endless. At first impression, rural housing is vulnerable to weaknesses in the delivery system for housing materials and services. Gradually, it dawns on the observer that the sector is deeply affected by the infrastructure deficit – roads, electricity supply, drinking water and sanitation. It has been bypassed by the numerous economic revolutions that have made India a vibrant economic superpower. For instance housing finance, which played a key role in the urban housing explosion, is conspicuous by its absence in the rural setting. Additionally, the limited mobility of rural households, the lack of vibrancy in the market for village properties and the marked volatility in agricultural incomes combine to dampen the prospects of this nebulous sector. The massive scale of the problems bedeviling the shelter situation in rural India, especially where it concerns the poor who constitute a large proportion of its population, may be understood through the myriad ‘absences’ that erect obstacles in the way of positive change. There is real paucity of common or village (non-agricultural) land for meeting the housing needs of the poor; whatever little is available is put to stress by challenging demands from other sectors. This leads to the collapse of the government’s social housing development programme—Indira Awas Yojana (IAY). The absence of adequate and comprehensive land records creates a forbidding situation for institutions interested in rural housing finance. How do people build houses under these conditions? This report summarises the discussions the study team had with a number of officials, beneficiaries of government programmes and members of households in the selected villages spread over the country. The case studies summarised here are art of a larger study on sustainable development of rural housing in India commissioned by Holcim Limited. The quantitative assessment of the requirements of housing and constraints to systematic development of rural housing would be presented in a separate report. In this note, we present the findings of a few case studies based on field visits to selected villages. This was undertaken to get a clear understanding of the working of government schemes in promoting rural housing as well as in assessing the environment for rural housing. They are veritable vignettes depicting the variety of roadblocks confronting potential house builders in rural areas. The issues may arise from land, or could be linked to fund mobilisation, or problems with regulation, difficulties in procuring building materials, finding skilled masons, carpenters and other tradesmen associated with housing and the level of awareness of cost saving technologies. The field visits to the villages involved meeting village officials, beneficia ies of government housing assistance schemes, village elders and people who have recently constructed houses in the village. We also met officers of housing finance institutions who were either operating in the selected villages or in nearby places. The interviews and discussions that make up the case studies run the full gamut of situations from land acquisition to final completion of the house. An attempt was made to understand the processes followed in the identification of the beneficiary, acquisition of land (if not owned), sourcing funds, procurement of building materials, availability of masons and other types of construction labour (including own contribution in construction activity), etc. We also sought to ascertain how people perceived uses for newly constructed and upgraded houses, i.e. whether they were meant for self-use for living purposes, or were they used mainly/partly for storage or similar purposes? The questions also probed whether by “house construction” people understood construction of new dwelling units or extensions and upgrades of existing houses. An important part of the field visits was the meetings held with village patwaris and other local revenue officers. The objective was to form an understanding of the processes involved in the maintenance of land records and formalities undergone in routine sale-purchase of residential and agricultural land. Similarly, bank managers of local branches were contacted to get an overview of the roles that formal financial institutions play – if any – in developing rural housing projects. The case studies have been supplemented with detailed interactions with senior professionals at Development Alternatives, a renowned NGO based in New Delhi, and the public sector Housing Development and Finance Corporation. Our report has been much enriched by the views of these stakeholders. W erever possible we have attempted to supplement the case-study based analysis with findings of similar other studies. The following statement lists the villages visited.