Kaushalya: Disabled Friendly Built Environment

Background

Kaushalya lives in Jeevan Beema Nagar of Bangalore district, with her husband and two daughters. She is differently abled by birth because of polio and her husband was paralyzed a few years ago due to brain fever. He used to work as a contractor for whitewashing walls. Post this, she started a tailoring business as she had learnt tailoring during her school days. Pre COVID, she also used to take tuition classes at her home to 5-6 students. Through tailoring, she used to earn INR 3000 per month. She also receives a monthly disability pension of INR 1,400 from the State government. She had a decent house earlier, however, the house was completely in tatters in 2015 due to heavy rain. She didn't have money to reconstruct the house so she made a temporary arrangement with an asbestos roof and carpets in place of a wall. This arrangement was highly inconvenient and unsafe for the family. Asbestos tends to trap heat as well making spaces inhabitable and unhealthy in summer months.

Built Environment Solution

A disabled friendly house was constructed at the site, in March 2021. The house is made up of eco-friendly heat resilient materials. The house consists of 2 bedrooms, one drawing room, a kitchen and a toilet. The entire house has ramps and railings so that the end user can move freely. She now has a separate workspace in the drawing room for her sewing work, with a small window for interaction with customers.

Financial Solution

The total intervention cost is INR 7,90,000. Out of which INR 1,50,000 was paid by the end user through a chit fund savings. Rest of the amount was contributed as a capital grant support.