KERALASTATE HOUSING POLICIES & SCHEMES/PROGRAMS

BY

SHIVANI GILHOTRA

MASTERS IN PLANNING IN HOUSING (2ND SEM)

BACKGROUNDKerala lies along the coastline, to the extreme south west of theIndian peninsula, flanked by the Arabian Sea on the west and themountains of the Western Ghats on the east.

POPULATION = 3,33,87,677 ( AS PER 2011 CENSUS)

URBAN RURAL

1,74,55,506 1,59,32,171

% of Total population

47.72% 52.28%

The decadal percentage of urbanpopulation has increased from29.96% in 2001 to 47.72% in 2011.This shows the high rate ofurbanization.

Numerical shortage of housing in 2001

Total number of dilapidatedHouses in 2001

Housing for newly formed households required

Projected demand at the end of 12thplan (2012-17)

63,000 units 5.38 lakhs 4.5 lakh 6.5 lakhs new constn. + 5.5 lakh reconstn.

According to the census figures of2001, 68% of households lived inpermanent houses and 21.60% insemi permanent houses. Theprojected requirement for the nextfive years was 10 lakhs.

The State has to undertake thetask of constructing 12 lakhHousing units, of which aroundsixty percent is meant for theEWS

HOUSING PROFILE IN KERALA

SETTLEMENT PATTERN AND HOUSING TYPOLOGY

The settlement pattern of the State is of rural andurban continuum and different varieties of housingtypologies with vernacular, traditional and local types.

The typologies of housing pattern have richarchitectural heritage and skylines.

Indigenous tribal settlements and the traditionalfishermen settlements have peculiar housing patterns.

High rise buildings, IT habitats, Technology Parks andElectronic hubs are booming in the State. Most ofthese types of settlements are seen to have developedwithout adequate, balanced and integrated planning.

Kerala is known for its unique settlement pattern withindependent houses on individual plots scatteredacross the habitable areas. Due to its distinctive social,geographic and climatic conditions, the trend has beento build houses in small garden lands creatingtremendous pressure on lands.

Bungalow house

Tribal tree houses

Traditional Toda Hut

Boat houseFisherman houses

IT sector in CochinApartments by Kerala Housing Board

1950s• Village housing scheme implemented with the support of the community development programme sponsored by GoI.

1971• Kerala State Housing Board was established which took many loan-subsidy linked housing programs for EWS

1972

• One Lakh Housing scheme - it marked a remarkable change in the low-income housing situation of Kerala. It was designed for the poor landless agricultural laborers, who have not received homesteads under the Kerala Agrarian Relations Act

Later

• housing schemes for SCs and STs were taken up in a major way integrated with the centrally sponsored employment generating schemes of NREP, RLEGP, etc.

1987• Kerala State Nirmiti Kendra was established which worked on cost effective and environment friendly building technology

1991• Rajiv One Million Housing Scheme (ROMHS) for all sections by the board

1992-97• Eighth five year plan according to National Housing Policy

1996

• Indira Awas Yojana was launched along with Mythri Housing Scheme for EWS - Under this scheme, it was proposed to construct 1,00,000 houses per annum.

2007• The EMS Housing scheme, Housing for all

HISTORY OF PUBLIC HOUSING SCHEMES

KERALA STATE HOUSING POLICY- 2011VISION- The policy envisages the promotion of sustainable development of the habitat with theobjective to ensure adequate and affordable housing for all, ensuring supply of quality basic serviceswith integrated livelihood mechanisms and special focus on the needs of the poor, marginalized anddisadvantaged on a rights based framework for the accomplishment of “Adequate and AffordableHousing forAll” in sustainable habitat mode, facilitating inclusive growth.

AIM- The aims of the Kerala State Housing Policy 2011 are:(i) Creation of adequate and affordable housing stock on ownership and rental basis on a right based

framework.

(ii) Meeting the special needs of SC/ST/disabled/fishermen/traditionally employed laborers / slumdwellers, elderly women, street vendors and other weaker and vulnerable sections of the society.

(iii) Facilitating accelerated supply of serviced land and housing with particular focusto EWS and LIG categories.

(iv) Facilitating up gradation of existing decaying housing stock and extending the shelf life of the house.

(v) Facilitating all dwelling units to have easy accessibility to basic services of sanitation, drinking water,power, waste disposal and social infrastructural facilities like education, health and transport.

(vi) Adopting participatory approach in the design of public housing programme taking into accountend-user concerns.

(vii) Promotion of larger flow of funds to meet the revenue requirements of housing and infrastructureusing innovative tools.

(viii) Forging strong partnerships between private, public and cooperative sectors to enhance thecapacity of the construction industry to participate in every sphere of housing and infrastructure.

(ix) Promoting cost effective, environment friendly technologies for modernizing the housing sector toincrease efficiency, productivity, energy efficiency and quality. The concept of Green building will bepropagated.

(x) Guiding urban and rural settlements so that a planned and balanced growth is achieved with the helpof innovative methods such as provision of urban amenities in rural areas (PURA) leading to in-situurbanization.

(xi) Development of cities, towns and villages in a manner which provide for a healthy environment,increased use of renewable energy sources and pollution free atmosphere with a concern for solid wastedisposal, drainage, etc.

(xii) Skill up gradation programmes enabling the workers to move up the wage chain inemployment.

(xiii) Removing legal, financial and administrative barriers for facilitating access to tenure, land, financeand technology.

(xiv) Facilitating, restructuring and empowering the Institutions at State and LocalGovernments to mobilize land, planning and financing for housing and basicamenities.

(xv) Providing disaster resistant technology, protecting housing and habitat development from naturalcalamities like cyclone, flood, landslide, tsunami and earthquake.

(xvi) Encouraging small scale production units for building materials and components.

(xvii) Ensuring adequate availability of building materials, protecting and promoting our culturalheritage, architecture, and traditional skills.

(xviii) Restructuring and strengthening the Kerala State Housing Board and Kerala State NirmithiKendra (KESNIK) and network of Nirmithi Kendras.

(xix) Restructuring and strengthening of public sector organizations in the housing sector.

(xx) Removing bottlenecks and impediments related to legal, regulatory framework and revampingthe existing laws and regulations for creating and enabling environment for housing initiatives.

GENERAL EVALUATION OF PUBLIC HOUSING SCHEMES

An analysis of the public housing schemes implemented reveals the following factors:

1. Inadequate coverage of the marginalized sections of the society, destitute, women headed households and the poorest of the poor

2. Need for more thrust in meeting the housing requirements of the landless tribals, fishermen, and the traditionally employed, recognizing their requirements on spatial and economic considerations

3. Inadequate supply of building material and skilled labor

4. The housing programmes implemented in a target driven mode with the implementing agency chasing to achieve the physical and financial targets set, with little concern for the participation of end users

5. Lack of social infrastructural facilities and poor supply of basic services to the houses

6. Lack of holistic habitat development approach and inadequate livelihood support programmes integral to the housing schemes.

CURRENT HOUSING PROGRAMMES AND IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES

The major State government aided housing schemes for theeconomically weaker sections are-

• Total Housing Scheme- It was estimated that there are 2 lakhlandless families and a total of 5 lakh houseless families in the stateas on June 2008. EMS total Housing scheme launched byGovernment of Kerala aims at providing house sites to all landlessfamilies and houses to all houseless families coming under the BPLcategory

• Tribal Housing Scheme- The government has proposedschemes for constructing houses for the tribes in Wayanad. Thisincludes the construction and distribution of around 270 houses forthe tribes in Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad. The construction cost foreach house is Rs 90,000. These buildings are completed anddistributed to them. The scheme also aims at providing financialassistance of Rs.70,000 to Scheduled Tribes in three stages for theconstruction of houses. Beneficiaries are selected byOorukoottam.(Tribal groups) application form

House under EMS total Housing scheme

House under Tribal Housing Scheme

• New Suraksha Housing Scheme, schemes of SC & ST departments- In this scheme theconstruction cost of one house is taken as Rs.1,00,000/- (having a plinth area of 30m2). The patternsuggested is as follows: Share of beneficiary Rs.25,000/- Share of Voluntary organizationRs.50,000/- Govt. Subsidy Rs.25,000/-

• Fishermen Housing Scheme- National Fishermen Welfare Fund Assisted Housing Scheme isthe programme is meant for providing housing to fishermen under the model village developmentprogramme. The unit cost per house is Rs. 50000/-.The State Government have enhanced the unitcost to Rs 2 lakh and is given to the beneficiary as 100% grant. The beneficiaries are registeredfishermen. The implementing agency is Department of Fisheries.

• Bhavanasree- is a micro housing loan programme initiated by Kudumbashree with the support ofbanking institutions. The target group under this scheme comprises people who were members ofKudumbashree NHGs across the state. Loan amount was issued for construction of a new house andfor repair and maintenance of existing house.

• Asraya and MN Lakshamveedu Punar Nirmana Padhathi- under the scheme , which isnamed "M.N.Laksham Veedu Punarnirmana Padhathi" financial assistance for the reconstruction ofdilapidated twin houses into single units and reconstruction of single houses, is being implementedthrough the Board. The Government subsidy will be 75,000/- for General Category, 1,00,000 for SCCategory and Rs.1,25,000/- for ST category. 50% of the subsidy amount will be given by Kerala StateHousing Board and the balance amount shall be met by the Local Self Government Departments.

BEST PRACTISES

STATE FOCUS ON SOLAR POWER IN RURALAREAS

First solar-enabled panchayat in Kerala-Kochi: A small village in the outskirts of Ernakulumis all set to become the first totally solar-enabledpanchayat in the state, with Bombay IIT's help. Theproject is being implemented in a tie-up with theKerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and the IIT,Bombay.

CONCLUSION

• The State Government has targeted to launch housing schemes toensure adequate and affordable housing to all, on a sustainablehabitat development mode, integrated with livelihood supportsystems and special focus on the needs of the poor and economicallyweaker sections of the society on rights based approach.

• The Government has attempted to overhaul the legal, financial andinstitutional framework so that the development is facilitated withcontributions from public, private, co-operatives, NGOs etc.

• The ultimate objective of the Kerala State Housing Policy is to ensure“adequate and affordable housing for all leading to sustainabledevelopment of human settlement, providing livelihood supportprogramme”.

• However, the public housing schemes in Kerala gives a ratherdifferent picture and points towards the inefficiency ofimplementation strategies with regard sustainability aspects.