Kerala clears ₹1,000-crore housing scheme for 32,000 SC and ST families

The Kerala government has approved a ₹1,000-crore special housing scheme to provide houses to 32,000 Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) families in the current financial year, Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes K.A. Thulasi said on Friday.

The scheme will cover 25,000 SC families and 7,000 ST families. It will be implemented directly through the respective departments rather than by merging its funds with the LIFE Mission, the housing programme of the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. The Minister said the decision to run a separate programme followed the departments’ experience with LIFE Mission implementation.

Of the total outlay, ₹727.68 crore has been earmarked for SC housing and ₹252.52 crore for ST housing. A further ₹20 crore has been set apart for housing assistance to particularly vulnerable sections.

The government has enhanced housing assistance for SC families from ₹4 lakh to ₹6 lakh. For ST families, assistance has been raised from ₹4 lakh to ₹6 lakh for houses, and from ₹6 lakh to ₹8 lakh for houses in remote locations.

Ms. Thulasi said ₹120 crore allocated for SC housing in 2024-25 and ₹105 crore in 2025-26 had remained unspent and were returned to the Finance department. She said the United Democratic Front (UDF) government would spend ₹727.68 crore on SC housing alone in a single financial year, compared with ₹757.47 crore spent through LIFE Mission over the last eight years.

Applications can be submitted from November 1 to 16 at the respective Scheduled Caste offices or through the department’s online portal. Scrutiny and categorisation of applications will be completed by November 24. Beneficiary lists will be sent to district-level officers by November 30, and final lists will be published on December 3. The State-level inauguration is scheduled for December 6.

Financial assistance will be disbursed in four instalments. The government plans to release the first instalment in December and the second on February 10. Two instalments are expected to be distributed in the current financial year, while the remaining payments will be linked to the progress of house construction.

The annual family income ceiling for SC applicants is ₹3 lakh, while the limit for ST applicants is ₹1 lakh. Priority will be given to families headed by widows, households with members suffering from serious illnesses and other particularly vulnerable groups. Among SC applicants, unmarried women above 50 years of age who head families will also receive priority.

SC applicants should possess at least two cents of land in rural areas or 1.5 cents in urban areas. Applicants should be below 70 years of age, and houses built under the scheme should have a maximum area of 500 sq.ft. For ST families, households with more than two students will receive priority.

The Minister also addressed concerns over child deaths and maternal health among tribal communities in Attappady. A coordination committee set up to review health and welfare in the region last met on May 16, 2023, and was not convened again until the present government initiated a review on October 5. The committee was meant to meet every three months to assess child nutrition, maternal health, community kitchens and coordination among government departments.

Ms. Thulasi said one of the main concerns identified during the review was a sharp decline in the number of community kitchens operating in Attappady.