Meanwhile

The Gaekwad family lives in a single-room house on the outskirts of a city. The family cooks their food, eats it and sleeps in the same room. This room is also used as a play area by their three-year-old child. Lack of credit has prevented the Gaekwads from obtaining a loan to improve their living conditions. There are millions of low-income families who live in overcrowded, inadequate and unsafe shacks made of wood and corrugated steel, crammed between dusty paths and open sewers.

A decent habitat and sheltered environment for lowincome families can improve their well-being and catalyse overall economic growth. There is little more critical to a family’s quality of life than a healthy and safe living space. It is thus critical to recognise housing investment as a fundamental building block of economic activity.

House prices have been stretching further and further away from normal wages, making it difficult for low income families to get on the housing ladder. Lack of shelter is the locus that continues to breed innumerable problems for those without a roof on their head — problems in the areas of health, education, family stability, livelihood and self-esteem. It also makes them vulnerable to so many natural hazards like cyclones, floods and fire and causes annual setbacks to their economic condition and saving ability.