The people of this settlement were originally living in temporary sheds made of palm leaves and thatch and like most of the modern day villagers, they aspired for a brick and concrete permanent house. Their aspirations were met when the government allotted them housing under the Total Housing Scheme.
They were given a full subsidy and did not have to contribute any money. They even chose not to contribute labour for construction. And yet they have a lot to complaint, beginning from the lack of space for their big families to the leaky roofs.
Mr. Prasnjeet, an architect from COSTFORD, comments that the people of this village are not very self-motivated and do not wish to work for self-development. So much so that they were stealing the materials allotted for the construction of their own houses, which led to a great amount of delay and stalling of the work.
These people have a long history of receiving grants and aids from various sources and hence, are not very pro-active and grumble for the smallest reasons. For example, one woman was complaining about the smoke and suffocation she suffers in the small kitchen that was provided to her, but did not take the slightest efforts to open the windows, which she had blocked with bags, and allow ventilation in the room. He further commented that the people of this village were losing their traditional arts and skills of building as they have now begun to look down upon their time-tested ancestral methods of construction in favour of the modern day brick-cement buildings.
COSTFORD's attempts for developing were not just restricted to the provision of houses, but they also took initiatives in educating the people by trying to inculcate in them a sense of values and self-respect. They have suggested them various livelihood options, such as pisciculture in the backwaters that run behind their housing colony, but to no avail. This village is a typical example, which shows that an external agency can make a change in the lives of others only if they are willing to allow him to do so.
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