Affordable Housing and Infrastructure in India

The problem of providing affordable housing and infrastructure to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the population in developing countries is the theme of the contents of this book. The publication highlights the need to define housing as a priority sector and that building construction activities be declared as an industry so that it has access to all fiscal ad tax benefits which are available to all other Indian industries. The book concludes that the problem of providing affordable housing to the urban poor is aggravated by limited allocations of budgetary resources by the governments of developing countries. It is the unanimous opinion of the authors that higher budgetary allocations for the housing sector, particularly for the EWS is essential. Authors presenting their views, despite their varied starting points, came to the conclusion that affordable housing and infrastructure must be made accessible to the EWS of the population. Papers cover such issues as housing policy, income earning issues, savings and rent affordability, housing delivery, infrastructure, finance, legislation and innovative building technology. It is unanimously agreed by various authors that there is an urgent need to introduce a greater number of income generation schemes to improve the income of the EWS as only then will these households be able to afford housing and basic services. Income generation schemes should be permitted within housing projects and/or within close proximity to the housing complexes. A neighbourhood community should be formed to maintain the services and the funds to support this activity should be contributed by the beneficiaries. Since the cost of houses needs to be reduced to make them affordable, there are papers devoted to the development and use of indigenous materials for construction. This is also seen as a way of reducing the cost of maintenance of houses. There is an unanimous opinion among the authors and delegates that participation of beneficiaries is essential for the success of programmes. The book highlights the need that each developing country must have a housing policy to guide housing development activity in a planned manner.