HOUSING
INTRODUCTORY 1. The housing problem has become acute in most industrial regions of the world since the last war. There is increasing recognition everywhere of the close relation between housing and the health and well-being of the people. Actually, over a number of years, shortages on a large-scale have developed and conditions worsened a great deal. Efforts made to solve the problem were handicapped by the difficult economic situation prevailing during these years. Private enterprise has proved incapable of meeting the needs and the State has had to assume direct initiative and responsibility in this field to an increasing extent. In some highly industrialised countries, housing accommodation has been provided to a large extent by heavy subsidies from the State in respect of houses of standard design for low-income groups which are not an economic proposition in most countries at present on account of the high cost of construction, building materials and development.
CONDITIONS IN INDIA 2. In India the situation has become particularly serious on account of the large increase of population since 1921. The percentage increase of population in the last three censuses has been 11%, 14.3% and 13.4% respectively. During the same period the growth of population in urban areas is estimated at 21%, 32% and 54% respectively. The heavy shifts of population from the rural areas reflected in these figures have occurred on account of the lack of adequate opportunities for employment in the villages and the growth of industry and business in towns with the attraction of relatively high wages and various kinds of amenities. The second world war helped the growth of urban population by setting up a number of war production plants. The labour population engaged in them did not, as a rule, go back to the villages when these plants ceased to operate at the end of the war. The increasing unemployment and underemployment in agriculture have helped this tendency. Since 1947 when the country was partitioned there has been a very heavy influx of refugees who have, on the whole, tried to settle in the urban areas. The supply of houses on the other hand did not keep pace with the increasing demand. Private enterprise, which has been the primary source of building activity so far, tended to shrink on account of scarcity and high price of building materials during and immediately after the war. The enactment of legislations controlling rents and requisitioning premises had also a deterrent effect on private enterprise in building. Pressure on the existing accommodation, therefore, progressively increased leading to evils of over-crowding, deterioration of housing estates and a variety of malpractices in relations between landlords and tenants.
3. Most of the towns in India have grown up haphazardly. They have a large proportion of sub-standard houses and slums containing insanitary mud-huts of flimsy construction poorly ventilated, over- congested and often lacking in essential amenities such as water and
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light. This is specially so in the large industrial cities. The disgraceful sights presented by the ahatas of Kanpur and the bustees of Calcutta are conspicuous examples of this state of affairs. These conditions have developed because of insufficient control over building activity by the State or municipal authorities. Local authorities have been generally indifferent to enforcing such bye-laws regarding building and sanitation as have existed. Their own resources have been too meagre to permit any development work worth the name.
4. Rents have been generally high, but in pre-war years sharing of tenements by several people or even families in conditions of extreme over-crowding reduced the burden on the individual to some extent. But during and after the war, landlords, fully conscious of the scarcity value of accommodation, began to realise rents at much higher rates, sometimes wholly out of proportion to the capital outlay. Very often consideration money or premium, known as pugree or salami, was charged for letting out house property. The State Governments attempted to control rents and to prevent eviction of tenants by means of special legislations. While the tenants could be given some protection against eviction, the attempt to control rent, specially in the case of new comers, did not prove very successful, generally for the same reasons which led to the failure of price control of essential commodities. Requisitioning of house properties by Governments, both Central and State, during and after the war to accommodate their offices as well as officers and, in some cases, for allotment to private citizens led to a further contraction of building activity of private landlords and thus aggravated the shortage.
HOUSING BY GOVERNMENTS AND PUBLIC BODIES 5. In India, the necessity of providing accommodation for their own employees specially in smaller towns or out of the way places has been long recognised by Governments, both Central and Provincial, and some housing activity of this description has been a regular feature throughout. Of late, it has also been realised that housing for low- income groups, who are not necessarily Government servants, will have to be undertaken, at least in the bigger cities, to cope with the acute shortage of accommodation. Among the State Governments, Bombay took a lead in 1921 by establishing a Development Department to reclaim land, to construct 50,000 one-roomed tenements and to organise the supply and distribution of building materials to cope with the growing shortage of houses in Bombay city. This Department had to be closed down soon after it had built only 15,000 tenements. The cost of construction proved very high and workers could not afford to pay the rent which was fixed by the Department to cover the interest and maintenance charges of these buildings. The Bombay Government resumed their-activity in this field in 1949 by setting up a special Housing Board with the object of building houses for industrial workers and other low-income groups, developing land, and assisting in the production and distribution of building materials. The Board, which was set up by legislation, was given a loan of Rs. 4.37 crores upto March, 1952 to provide its initial capital. It has constructed 7,000 tenements for industrial workers and low-income groups and over 9,000 tenements for displaced persons out of an allotment of Rs. 2 crores by the Central Government. At present it is engaged in developing an area of about 400 acres of khazan land for co-operative housing
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societies at a cost of about rupees one crore. Of late, the activities of the Board have been considerably curtailed because-loans and subsidies expected from the Central Government have not materialised. Other State Governments have not so far taken very active steps in the sphere of housing. Some of them such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Hyderabad have set up Housing Boards quite recently. Others such as Bihar and Mysore are considering similar measures. None of these Boards appears to have started functioning yet except in Uttar Pradesh where construction of houses for workers of sugar factories has been taken up out of a special cess levied by the State Government.
6. Improvement trusts in Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Kanpur have undertaken housing schemes to some extent. Very often these are rehousing schemes for persons displaced by the activities of these trusts in opening up and clearing residential localities. Municipalities have also constructed a certain number of houses, generally for their own essential staff but occasionally for other low-income groups as well. The total number of houses constructed by local authorities is reported to be 18,771. The main difficulty-in the way of a more ambitious programme of construction has been the lack of funds. Most of the improvement trusts have no independent sources of revenue and have to depend on grants from State Governments or subventions from municipalities. As for municipal finance, it is generally in such a deplorable condition that few municipalities can provide even the minimum service to which the rate-payers are entitled, and can scarcely venture into such costly projects as housing schemes for low-income groups.
7. The activities of the Central Government till quite lately were confined to providing houses for their employees, particularly in essential services connected with communications and transport. The Indian railways have done pioneering work in this line and the total number of houses constructed by them up to the end of March, 1951, was 2,75,917 of which many as 1,97,535 were meant for low-paid railway employees. The Railway Board have a further programme of construction of accommodation for their staff at a cost of about Rs. 3.7 crores in 1952-53 and about Rs. 4 crores a year for the rest of the period of the Five Year Plan. The Ministry of Defence also provide accommodation for their employees in various parts of the country. UP to 1949 the number of houses constructed for ordnance workers, for instance, was 22,340 the total labour employed in ordnance factories being only 52,864. The Posts and Telegraphs Department have also undetaken construction of houses for their staff. State industrial undertakings, such as the fertilizer factory at Sindri, the locomotive works at Chittaranjan and the aircraft factory at Bangalore have also constructed houses to accommodate their staff.
8. It is in connection with the construction of houses for refugees from Pakistan that the Central Government first undertook a larg-scale housing programme for persons other than their employees. A major situation was created when as a result of the partition of the country about 75 lakhs of displaced persons came to India from Pakistan and had to be provided with accommodation of some sort. The problem has been tackled to a great extent and well-planned colonies and town-ships in various parts of the country have been developed where not only reasonably comfortable accommodation but also local employment
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in industry and trades has been provided. The total number of houses completed upto June, 1952, was 94,200 for displaced persons from Western Pakistan. Another 17,300 houses were under construction. In addition, individual displaced persons constructed 37,000 houses with financial assistance from Government. Among major colonies which have been set up are Ulhas Nagar near Bombay and Sardar Nagar near Ahmedabad ; Gobindpur and Hastnapur in Uttar Pradesh ; Chandigarh, Faridabad and Nilokheri in the Punjab. For the displaced persons from Eastern Pakistan, townships are under construction at Fulia and Habra in West Bengal and others in Assam and Bihar. Up to the end of June 1952, 7667 houses had been constructed by Government for the displaced persons from Eastern Pakistan. The total expenditure on housing for displaced persons incurred upto the end of March 1952, by the Central Government, was Rs. 48 crores. The efforts of Government to rehabilitate displaced persons are not yet over and additional funds are being allocated for the purpose. One outcome of this activity is the impetus for bold experiments in new materials and modes of construction with a view to effect utmost economy. Thus, the Punjab Government built nearly 4,000-houses in stabilised soil with cement plaster on both inner and outer wall. The Ministry of Rehabilitation experimented with the construction of traditional types of houses at Nilokheri, Faridabad and a number of other towns in the Punjab and West Bengal, by organizing the production of all building materials and components and labour under Government auspices, thereby eliminating the services of contractors. The cost of construction was considerably reduced as a result ; at Nilokheri it came to Rs. 4/8/- to 4/12/- per sq. ft. of the plinth area as against Rs. 7 per sq. ft. with standard materials and Rs. 6/- per sq. ft. with inferior specifications by the Central Public Works Department. In West Bengal also housing at Fulia showed the cost to be Rs. 4/13/- per sq. ft. of the plinth area.
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE 9. In respect of provision of houses for their workers, the employers have not a uniform record. A number of them have appreciated the necessity of providing accommodation for their workers in and around the work-site in the interest of efficiency as well as for securing a steady supply of labour. During and immediately after the war, several large concerns which had made considerable profits during the period invested part of their earnings in providing better living conditions for their workers. Some of them were prevented from doing so because they could not obtain land at reasonable cost and municipal services could not be assured. On the whole, construction of houses by employers in post-war years has fallen short of expectation. Where accommodation has been provided it has not always been of sufficient size or of satisfactory quality. The employers have generally taken the stand that not they but the State has the responsibility for providing houses for the working class and that apart from their other handicaps, they have not sufficient means for investing in house building. A few instances of the efforts made by the employers to solve the housing problem of labour may be referred to here. In November, 1950, the Industrial Committee on Plantations decided to adopt two-room standard for all housing in plantations in Northern India and called upon planters to put up houses for 8% of their labour every year. About 25,000 houses were built in 1950-51. in accordance with this scheme which is still in progress, the From Coal Mines Welfare Fund construction of standard types of houses for
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miners in a big colony at Bhuli near Dhanbad was undertaken and in 1948-49, 1566 two room tenements were constructed at a cost of about Rs. 54 lakhs. These tenements were let out at a concessional rate of Rs. 8 per month, of which the worker paid only Rs. 2, the balance being met by the mine-owners. The jute industry appears to have put up the largest number of houses for its workers. Statistics of houses constructed by different industries are not available but, some time ago, a total of 4,28,970 workers were reported to have been provided with accommodation by employers.
10. Co-operative housing societies have attempted, to a limited extent, to provide accommodation for middle and low-income groups. The Madras and Bombay States have been the centres of co-operative activity in this direction. In Madras about 4,000 houses were constructed upto August, 1950, by 273 co-operative building societies. About 12,000 houses were also under construction. In Bombay 3,500 houses were constructed in 1948 and 229 houses were under construction by 315 societies. In Uttar Pradesh 136 societies were registered by 1949 and were provided with facilities by way of sites and loans at low rates. The Textile Labour Association at Ahmedabad constructed 200 tenements and organised workers into co-operative housing societies for providing suitable accommodation for them on hire purchase system. Originally 8 such societies were formed to which 8 more were added after the last war. The major difficulty which faced the Association was paucity of funds and the inability of the Bombay Government to provide substantial assistance. Similar difficulty about obtaining loans, at low rates has been experienced by cooperative building societies in other States as well.
11. The bulk of the building activity throughout has been in the hands of private enterprise. But for a long time it has not been able to keep up with demand. The trade depression of 1931 dealt a severe blow to the building industry; the level of construction fell between 1931 and 1939. During the war years and immediately thereafter both manpower and materials became scarce and the situation was further aggravated by a phenomenal growth of the urban population. A great defect in private construction, particularly for the low-income groups, is that too often only the barest amenities and services are provided and sometimes, as in the slum areas, even such minimum amenities are altogether absent. The lack of vigorous enforcement of building regulations by municipal authorities has been a potent source of evil and private builders have generally put up houses with little regard for sanitation and comforts of tenants.
ESTIMATE OF HOUSING SHORTAGE 12. Reliable statistics of the number of houses in urban areas are not available. While construction of houses remained almost at a standstill for several years on account of the war and post-war difficulties, urban population grew steadily. The advance census figures of 1951 show that in the decade 1941-51, while the rural population increased by 7.4% the urban population increased by 53.77%. The corresponding figures of the previous decade were 12% and 32.1 % respectively. The Planning Commission made an attempt to obtain a rough estimate of housing shortage in the principal industrial towns. Information received in respect of 37 such towns with a total population of 17,14,560 engaged in large-scale
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industries shows that the approximate number of industrial workers, who are in immediate need of accommodation, is 4,54,900. The Environmental Hygiene Committee estimated the shortage as 18.4 lakh houses in urban areas in addition to 10 lakh houses for displaced persons from Pakistan. According to the advance census figures of 1951, the population of 74 cities with one lakh or more inhabitants increased in the decade ending in 1951 by about 74 lakhs. Population of towns with 5,000 to one lakh inhabitants increased by 140 lakhs. It will thus be seen that to house this increased population considerable building activity will have to be undertaken.
HOUSING POLICY 13. The subject of housing is rot specifically mentioned in the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India which deals with matters coming within the purview of the Union and State Legislatures. In so far as housing for industrial labour is concerned, item 24 of list III may be said to cover it because it deals comprehensively with welfare of labour. That would bring the matter in the Concurrent List with which both the Union and the State Governments are concerned. The residuary power in relation to subjects not mentioned in the Concurrent List or the State List, however, vests in the Union Legislature. As such the Centre may be said to be directly concerned with the subject of housing in general. In these times, the State cannot afford to confine its role in this field to planning and regulation. Private enterprise is not in a position to do the job so far as low-income groups are concerned. They cannot afford to pay the economic rent for housing accommodation of even the minimum standards. The State has, therefore, to fill the gap and assist the construction of suitable houses for low and middle income groups both in urban and rural areas as a part of its own functions. This would involve a large measure of assistance which may take the form of subsidies on a generous scale and the supply of loans on a somewhat low rate of interest. In view of the gravity and vastness of the problem and the financial condition of the States, the Central Government have to accept a large measure of responsibility for financing housing programmes in the industrial centres where congestion and shortage have become very acute in recent years. Provision should also be made to find funds for middle-class housing schemes, preferably through co- operative building societies. We would, however suggest that the State Governments, who are being relieved to a large extent of the responsibility for industrial housing, should concentrate on ameliorating conditions of housing in rural areas. Although a great deal cannot be expected in view of the financial limitations, a beginning can be made in taking up pilot schemes of model housing and better living conditions in selected rural areas.