Housing Problems of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Families in Karnataka: An Alternative Framework

Meeting the housing needs of the depressed sections has emerged as a major challenge. Social housing schemes, being the only avenue of meeting the housing and amenities needs, have been very ineffective in terms of the coverage due to inadequate financing by the government. Since public expenditure has not increased correspondingly to the housing needs during the ’90s, the problem of housing of these sections has emerged as a major predicament for the state of Karnataka. Additionally, institutional inadequacies have further distanced the access to housing and amenities to houseless families. This paper documents institutional potentialities in the state to effectively address the problem besides suggesting a need-based housing development strategy — higher public expenditure, reorienting the existing institutional infrastructure and an integrated approach in meeting the total housing requirements of these families.