A concrete roof over his head. That is all Raju Parmar prayed for, each time the roof of his present house leaked. With a family of five to support, he could never collect enough money to do so. The same story was shared by many in Kulawada village near Gandhinagar.
Today, they are set to get their dream houses. Thanks to students of Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) who decided to change their lives by taking the responsibility of making houses for 25 such families living below the poverty line.
Two-feet-high walls are testimony that these constructions will soon be ready for possession and transform into houses, complete with name plates on doors.
"We have been running an organisation called Calypso for the last three years which is into teaching and skill development of children and women in the areas and villages near our college. There are many from Kulawada village who come to our centre and were demanding that a library be set up in their village. We had visited their village for that, where we learnt about the situation of the houses and that how no builder was ready to take up the project," said Konark Rai, one of the founders of Calypso. The other co-founders are Shishank Manish, Devina Gupta, Jaya Katju and Aditya Bhrambhatt.
Calypso got the project almost a month ago and they started building three sample houses. One room, kitchens with attached toilets at a cost of Rs 50,500. "After the three sample houses, we were given permission of building 25 houses, for which the foundation has been finished. We have appointed a contractor, appointed a builder and are supporting the project with funds that we have raised from the various donations that we receive from corporate houses and other donors," added Rai.
The houses are expected to get completed by October after which the young team is aiming to bag a project to build over 200 such houses. "There are enquiries pouring in asking us if we will built houses for them, but we want to finish this project and only then take up a new one. We are in talks with taluka development officer," he added.
