IDS students visit Hasta Shilpa Heritage Village
Mangaluru: The Indian Design School had organised a heritage tour for their students at the Hasta Shilpa Heritage Village Museum in Manipal on 25th February 2021 as part of their academic workshop for understanding the vernacular architecture and traditional interiors of South Canara. This is the first time any interior design college from Dakshina Kannada or Udupi district has conducted a heritage tour for their students.
The Hasta Shilpa Heritage Village is an open-air museum and cultural complex which aims to restore and conserve the nation's cultural wealth in the form of traditional buildings and objects of art, craft, and other artefacts of aesthetic interest. The brainchild of late Mr. Vijayanath Shenoy (1934-2017), a retired banker who converted his own home into an ethnographic museum, Heritage Village is managed by the Hasta Shilpa Trust. Over the last two decades, the Trust has relocated and restored 26 structures of immense architectural merit and fine craftsmanship. It is, indeed, a veritable treasure trove.
The heritage walks usually consist of two tours – the Northern Tour and Southern Tour, each lasting 1.5 hours with only a part of the village being showcased. However, special arrangements were made for the students of IDS so that they could have both the tours, with the tour lasting over 4 hours. To make the tour even special, one of the trust members, Mr. Harish Pai, had guided the students and provided them with complete information regarding the history of each structure, its usage, the process of restoration and ways of historical documentation. Such in-depth information is not provided during regular visits. Mr. Pai is also involved in restoration and maintenance of all the structures and had done so along with Mr. Shenoy. Mr. Pai also had an interactive session with the students and was interested in involving them in his future works due to their enthusiasm.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka to introduce new affordable housing policy with EWS mandate for private developers
Bengaluru: Karnataka is drafting a new Affordable Housing Policy that may require private real estate developers to allocate a portion of their projects for economically weaker sections (EWS). This initiative is part of preliminary discussions aimed at addressing the state’s housing challenges.
The policy is being developed by the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS), an urban-focused research organization co-founded by Nandan Nilekani and Deepak Parekh. IIHS was chosen for this task without a tender process.
Housing Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan's office has confirmed that discussions are underway to include a clause mandating private developers to reserve inventory for EWS buyers. At present, residential layouts are only required to allocate spaces for civic amenities such as parks and playgrounds.
The policy is a key component of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's agenda for affordable housing. It aims to streamline procedures in the housing sector while ensuring inter-departmental coordination. It will replace the 2016 housing policy and is expected to help Karnataka secure additional funding from union government housing schemes.
Funding challenges have hindered the state's housing programs, such as the Chief Minister’s One Lakh Housing Scheme, where the per-unit cost of ₹11.2 lakh places a significant financial burden on beneficiaries. With banks reluctant to lend, the government faces an estimated ₹3,700 crore shortfall.
The state is evaluating two affordable housing models proposed by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The first model, the Land Sharing Model, involves the government providing land to private developers, who would dedicate 30-50% of the land to affordable housing. Once the housing units are completed, they would be handed over to the government for distribution, while the developers would monetize the remaining land.
The second model, the Interest Subsidy Model, suggests offering a 3-5% subsidy on home loan interest, which would reduce monthly installments for beneficiaries from ₹8,700 to ₹5,500-6,800. This approach is expected to cost the government ₹60-170 crore annually.
