The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Pricing itself beyond the reach of the poor

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 08, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Pricing itself beyond the reach of the poor

K. A. Martin

The high prices of commodities and land are making housing for the common man unaffordable

Photos: H. Vibhu

MORE STATE INTERVENTION NEEDED?: Ventures of the Kerala State Housing Board at Kakkanadu and (on right) at Panampally Nagar. —

KOCHI: A draft of Kerala Housing and Habitat Policy 2007 sums it up aptly when it says: “The housing problem in the state affects the really poor and needy. Paucity of purchasing power, poverty, lack of security of tenure of land, speculative land market, inflexible housing finance system … are barriers in providing adequate support for the poor.”

Of the major stumbling blocks in addressing the housing needs of the poor and middle class, speculative land market perhaps stands up as an answer to a load of questions on why even an officer grade employee of the Government can only dream of buying a piece of land and building a house on it.

While the prices of materials from organised sectors like steel and cement continue to spiral out of control, there is no way of determining the price of material inputs like river sand. High labour cost and the shrinking number of hands available add to the problems.

And, Government appears to be nowhere in the picture, says C. R. Neelakandan, social activist regarding what he describes as the ‘commodification’ of land. It is too precious a resource to be left to the market forces, he says as he called on the Government to play an active interest in the lives of the poor who cannot now afford a roof over their heads.

Institutions like the Kerala State Housing Board which came into existence with a mandate to meet the housing needs of the economically weaker sections has been totally marginalised.

Since 2001, successive governments have not shown much interest in providing sufficient funds to the Housing Board. The situation has got grimmer over the last two years when Budget allocations for the Housing Board dried up, says an official associated with the housing sector.

Despite proposals for innovative housing schemes to cater to the needs of the poorer people who work in the urban areas having come up, not much followup action has been taken.

Providing even temporary stays for the workers who come to the city is of utmost importance as the service sector would be affected seriously without such arrangements.

The neglect of Housing Board has come despite the fact that the Board has a strong asset base. About 124 acres of land acquired by the Board could be utilised to build houses for the middle and low income groups, feel Housing Board sources.

The passing on of the responsibility of providing housing to the poor to local bodies has also chipped away from the functions of the Housing Board which played a big role in providing housing to the economically weaker sections. More than 90 per cent of the seven lakh housing units built by the Board has been for the economically weaker sections.

Kerala State Cooperative Housing Federation Limited (Housefed), which represents housing activities in the cooperative sector, has also fallen on hard days with active membership of the Federation dwindling and proposals for infusing new life into the cooperative housing activities still on the backburner.

The Federation currently has over 2,007 members and expects to disburse loans to the tune of Rs. 80 crore, said its president O. P. Moideen. He said that several proposals for giving a new impetus to the activities of the Federation are pending with the Government. Giving a boost to the Federation activities will be a major step towards helping the poorer sections of the society for meeting their housing needs. The upper limit for loans from Housefed is currently Rs. five lakh.

The housing scene for the poor in Kerala can be summed up from the story of a senior Government official in the district who built a 900 sq. ft. house in 2002 at a cost of Rs. five lakh (the bulk of it in bank loan). A year ago he wanted to extend his house a little. But the costs are prohibitive. After trying to get another loan, he has decided against it. With the current inflation levels and cost of materials it will be a difficult task. Difficult enough to dissuade him. But he says he still dreams of extending his house.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala