Most people of Paithan Taluka (sub-region) of Marathwada region depend on farming for their livelihoods. More than 90% of the farms are dependant on rains for their cultivation. The small patches of land (less than a hectare) with lack of irrigation and fertility makes it very difficult for the farmers to meet their basic needs.  Even if they were to think about additional sources of income, there are little options available and the skills needed are very much lacking. Such challenges are more pronounced among the women who in addition have to bear the brunt of socio-cultural barriers that discourage them from ownership of assets and to earn their own incomes. The farmers are therefore not able to afford basic housing facilities and living standards as required for a decent rural living.

It is the tendency and policy of banks to deter from providing loans to marginal poor in the rural areas particularly for housing and personal needs for the following reasons -

• Lack of collateral and financial security of the poor that is a pre-requisite for availing individual loans.
• Inability of the rural poor who are generally semi-literate or illiterate to prepare proposals and fulfil bureaucratic requirements of the bank.
• The high costs and complex administrative procedures to follow-up with the housing beneficiaries regarding loan repayments.

Government schemes are available as grants for the people of scheduled castes and below poverty line in the villages for construction of simple houses. However, access to such schemes by the rural poor is very limited and involves a long wait of many years as the scheme is dependent on the financial resources available with the government. The houses under such scheme consist of one small room that is too small to accommodate a family of 4-7 members. Besides, the grant provided under the government scheme is is a very limited amount not enough for the construction of the houses. Thus, the beneficiaries of this scheme have to contribute a lot of their own resources for the construction which may not be possible for many of the really poor and marginalised.

Against this backdrop, the Institute along with the women development animators in the village identified the marginalized women and trained them on skills related to masonry and other vocational trades that helped supplement their incomes. These trained masons built houses in the villages and also undertook construction contracts in the village. The identified members of the families of housing beneficiaries also gained other skills from the vocational training and used this income to contribute towards some of the costs of the housing. This is apart from their contribution towards skilled labour in the construction of the houses. Since 1993, this strategy has helped at least 150 households previously living in hutments to live in proper houses.

Training of women as masons

Practical demonstration of masonry skills

Trained masons take construction contracts.

Families transformed from old hutments to "pucca" houses

The finished house