MANGALORE: For the poor who find it difficult to get housing loans from banks, the Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) founded by D. Veerendra Heggade in Dakshina Kannada has come as a great help.

The low-cost housing scheme launched by SKDRDP in 2004 has come as a blessing for them. A maximum of Rs. 1 lakh is provided as loan to members of the project. The beneficiaries should be members of self-help groups formed under the project. A beneficiary will be given ten years to repay the loan in monthly instalments of Rs. 1,400 for a loan of Rs. 1 lakh.

A house with an area of 30 X 20 sq.ft. and a sit-out measuring 10 X 7 sq. ft. is constructed at Rs. 1 lakh (excluding the land value) by adopting low-cost technology, Anand K., engineer and project officer of Swagraha housing programme of SKDRDP, told The Hindu .

Under the project, 291 low-cost houses were built in Belthangady, Puttur and Karkala taluks between January 2005 and January 2006. Of these, 140 are in Karkala, 79 in Puttur and 72 in Belthangady. Low-cost blocks have been used for roofing in the houses. A house with RCC roofing costs Rs. 350 per sq. ft. Under the project's low-cost technique, it costs Rs. 200 per sq. ft. to build a house, Mr. Anand said.

SKDRDP has given loans to those who own a minimum of 1.75 cents of land. And the beneficiaries contribute their share (margin money) in terms of labour while building the house.

For construction and repair of houses, SKDRDP has so far lent over Rs. 3 crores. It also offers free consultancy on low-cost building technology.

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