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THEME PAPER
innovative technologies provide access to appropriate and Karnataka have district
and adaptation to local building materials and level centres, as part of state-
conditions of cost-effective technologies and provide wide networks. While most
technologies from across the information and offer Building Centres in the
globe. However, the focus advisory services to building country are government-
has been on technologies workers and homeowners. sponsored, there are others
that are pertinent to mass Home builders require that are managed by NGOs
housing projects rather awareness, hand-holding and such as Development
than to self-built housing. upgrading of building skills, Alternatives in Delhi and
Consequently, there has been which is a task that can be Hunnershala in Bhuj,
little effort to address the taken up by local institutions, others have been set up by
limitations of poor quality run as entrepreneurial centres well-known professionals.
and unsafe construction, with a social objective. An Some are operated by local
inherent in self-built housing effective strategy would be to entrepreneurs such as MBS
or to validate local materials use the network of Building & Co in Imphal and Micro
and technologies, which are Centres in the country to Home Solutions in Delhi.
commonly used for house- give technical support to The experience from these
building in smaller towns and incremental housing. building centres shows that
peri-urban areas, where most knowledge building and
of the BLC assistance has The Government of India had transfer requires not only
understanding of technology
gone (Mitra, 2021). Simply launched a National Network but also of people and places.
providing funding support to of Building Centers ( Nirmithi There is a strong case for
communities engaged in self- Kendras or Nirman Kendras) supporting the Building
construction could lead to in the 1980’s with the aim Centre model as a strategy for
faster development of unsafe to enable and empower grass-roots entrepreneurship
structures and underserviced people to build better by development and job creation
neighbourhoods in the near evolving appropriate housing in the building sector and
future. delivery system with people’s linking it with people-driven
participation, by applying
The large-scale need for envir onment-friendly, home building efforts.
housing construction ecologically appropriate, Other countries have adopted
and improvement and energy saving, disaster different approaches. For
regional diversities justify resistant and affordable example, the Community
complimenting the present housing solutions and by Organization Development
centralised approach of developing the right level of Institute (CODI), a unit
disseminating material and skills among the local artisans of the National Housing
technology-based solutions (Government of India, Authority of Thailand,
of the present Technology 2000). 385 building centres which gives techno-financial
Sub-Mission of PMAY with were set up with initial assistance to communities
regionalised approaches seed capital from HUDCO for land purchase and
(Mitra, 2021). The purpose and technical support from housing development has
would be to make available BMTPC during the 1980’s a team of young architects
appropriate geo-climatic and 90’s, some of which and engineers to work with
and socially adaptive local have sustained themselves community groups. Local
indigenous solutions, enhance and are still functioning universities also provide
local construction capacity, well. For examples, Kerala hand-holding support. This
20 HUDCO-HSMI Publication
