Walayar: As a consumerist state with 25 lakh migrant population from other states, Kerala is poised to open next month a pioneering housing project for labourers from other parts of the country. The first residential complex of ‘Apna Ghar’, as the endeavour is titled, will be inaugurated on August 12 by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the plot near the New Industrial Area of Kanjikode in Palakkad district bordering Tamil Nadu.
Bookings are through for four-fifth of the housing units with bunker bed facilities that can accommodate 640 people with a per-head monthly rent of around Rs 800, official sources said on Thursday. The four-storeyed building in a 64-cent plot, split into three blocks and constructed with a cost of Rs 8.5 crore by the Kerala government’s Labour Department along with consultancy agency KITCO, has 32 kitchens, eight dining halls and 96 bathrooms besides space for drying clothes.
The labourers at the 44,000-square feet Apna Ghar with 64 rooms are securing entitlement to stay at the residential complex by producing identity cards, including Aadhaar. The rents would be on weekly as well as monthly basis.
The construction of Apna Ghar was entrusted with Thrissur-based COSTFORD, a 1984-founded voluntary organisation that provides technological assistance for rural development with focus on alternative building technology. The complex will have round-the-clock security, while a dedicated agency will take care of cleanliness and maintenance.
More Apna Ghar complexes are set to come up across various districts of the state, with the next one being constructed in the major cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
