Rashid's Blog: A Place for Inquisitive Souls

Every region of this country has its own unique weaving traditions. Many of us who grew up wearing cotton sarees through the hot and long summers, came to recognize the origins from the design, style and texture of the weave. From the Muga and Eri silks of Assam, the Chanderis,  Benarsi, Paithani, Kanchipurams – the list can go on and on. And buying a saree in the local weave is on the agenda, where ever I travel in the country. So, our travel in Tamilnadu led us to the local weavers.

Hand looms are an integral part of the livelihood in many of the villages and towns in and around Kumbakonam, Thanjavur etc. So in Kumbakonam, we visited the house of Mr Kamsan,  who had his loom in the front verandah of his house. Hand weaving is the family tradition, and he now has 60 odd looms around Kumbakonam. These…

by Swathi Subramaniam, PRIA

Recently, two day national conclave on “Urban Governance and Housing for All – Opportunities and challenges” was presided over by Shri. M. Venkiah Naidu and concluded by suggesting a 25-point charter for urban planning and management.

 It was estimated that 3 crore houses will be short by the year 2022. GoI aspires to have Housing for All by 2022 with special emphasis on Economically Weaker Society, Lower Income Group et al. The housing and construction contributes to 9% of GDP and supports 250 ancillary industries. A comprehensive housing policy will be formed, implementation of single window scheme for approval of layouts for builders, to improve livelihoods of the urban poor, ensure peoples participation in governance, amendment of rental laws etc. 

Earlier government had also initiated housing for the poor. Rajiv Awas Yojana(RAY) and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JnNURM) are two big schemes which were…