{"id":25908,"date":"2013-09-19T15:36:04","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T19:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=25908"},"modified":"2013-09-19T22:36:45","modified_gmt":"2013-09-20T02:36:45","slug":"some-beneficiaries-in-north-receiving-houses-from-indian-funds-face-burden-of-increasing-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=25908","title":{"rendered":"Some Beneficiaries in North Receiving Houses from Indian Funds Face Burden of Increasing Debt."},"content":{"rendered":"

By
\nMeera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vasanthakumar Thiruchelvi does not, even for a second, take her eyes off her two children.<\/p>\n

Even as she summons her daughter who is jumping over sand and cement heaped around their soon-to-be home, her son threatens to lift the tiles stacked nearby. \u201cNow come here, it might fall on your leg,\u201d she tells her son. \u201cBuilding a home is a lot of work,\u201d she smiles as she picks up her daughter.<\/p>\n

Managing two little children and simultaneously supervising construction of her home is, however, the least of her worries. Thiruchelvi and her husband \u2014 like many other families trying to rebuild their homes and lives in the war-ravaged Northern Province \u2014 are worried they might soon be caught in a web of debt.<\/p>\n

The young couple in Santhapuram village in Kilinochchi is among the beneficiaries of the Indian government-funded housing project in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Currently in a temporary shelter-home Thiruchelvi says the new house, coming up right beside, is a boon. Families whose homes were destroyed during the war say they are grateful for the support extended by the Indian government. Returning to their villages, to a home of their own, is a dream come true. But between them and their dream of peaceful life lies the huge challenge of rising material and labour costs that are forcing them to borrow.<\/p>\n

Thiruchelvi has signed up for a bank loan of LKR 50,000. \u201cUnless we finish constructing the walls, the next instalment won\u2019t be given. We don\u2019t have enough money to pay the labourers now,\u201d she says. Her husband\u2019s earnings from driving a sand tipper truck is the four-member family\u2019s only source of income.<\/p>\n

Explaining the rising costs, Gurusamy Murugaiyah, a community leader in Santhapuram, says: \u201cMasons charge between [LKR] 1,300 and 1,500 these days.\u201d About 350 families in this village are covered by the housing scheme, he says.<\/p>\n

After years of trauma and displacement, the homes symbolise a new beginning. But as livelihood options are limited, a financial burden looms large for many families.<\/p>\n

To accommodate his entire family, Ramasamy Kumarasamy built an additional room with a bank loan of LKR 2 lakh, and by pawning his wife\u2019s jewellery. \u201cWe have repaid some of the debt, but my wife has recently taken up a house maid\u2019s job in Riyadh to ease our financial pressure,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Even for those who opted for a basic design, borrowing has become inevitable, says S. Suvendaran, who has put in his entire saving of LKR 1,10,000 \u2013 money he made from fishing \u2013 into this house. \u201cBy the time I finish, I will end up borrowing, I am sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not just about rising costs. Since the entire construction process is owner driven, it warrants a great degree of involvement in the form of labour, supervision and monitoring. \u201cMy husband is a mason, so he chips in every day, but he ends up going late for his work and loses part of his daily wage,\u201d says Satiswaran Gajitha, who is building a home in Palai, Jaffna peninsula. In addition to a bank loan of LKR 1 lakh, she has pawned all her jewellery, which she has little hope of retrieving.<\/p>\n

J. Justin Mohan, First Secretary (Development Cooperation) at the Indian Mission in Colombo, whose team has been executing the housing project, says they are aware of the financial stress some families are undergoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlong with our partners, we are trying to extend some personal assistance. We will also be closely monitoring these families to see how best we can help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The situation, Mr. Justin Mohan says, varies from one family to another. \u201cSome families have shown tremendous enterprise and successfully completed the home without any loan, but other families which have more financial pressure may find it hard at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue of debt seems common to other housing projects as well. Beneficiaries of the World Bank housing scheme, which covers some parts of northern Sri Lanka, funding about LKR 3 lakh per home, have the same problem.<\/p>\n

Sitting in the living room of her incomplete home in Achchuveli, Jaffna, Kumar Subavini says her family is unable to complete the remaining painting work. \u201cI have borrowed about LKR 1.5 lakh. We are unable to pay it and the banker even came home the other day to ask us to pay up,\u201d she says.
\nCOURTESY:THE HINDU<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Vasanthakumar Thiruchelvi does not, even for a second, take her eyes off her two children. Even as she summons her daughter who is jumping over sand and cement heaped around their soon-to-be home, her son threatens to lift the tiles stacked nearby. \u201cNow come here, it might fall on your leg,\u201d she …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Some Beneficiaries in North Receiving Houses from Indian Funds Face Burden of Increasing Debt.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25908"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25942,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25908\/revisions\/25942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}