Permanent House for USD $300 = Rs.15,000 (INR)

Vijay Govindarajan

Vijay Govindarajan is the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. His most recent book is The Other Side of Innovation.

Vijay Govindarajan

The $300 House: A Hands-On Lab for Reverse Innovation?

12:07 PM Thursday August 26, 2010 | Comments ( 159)

The $300 House:

• The Financial Challenge
• The Design Challenge
• The Energy Challenge
• The Co-Creation Challenge
• The Marketing Challenge
• The Performance Challenge
• The Corporate Challenge
• The Sustainability Challenge
• The Urban Challenge

Editor's note: This post was written with Christian Sarkar, a marketing consultant who also works on environmental issues.

David A. Smith, the founder of the Affordable Housing Institute (AHI) tells us that "markets alone will never satisfactorily house a nation's poorest citizens...whether people buy or rent, housing is typically affordable to only half of the population."

The result? Smith points to a "spontaneous community of self-built or informally built homes — the shanty towns, settlements, and ever-expanding slums that sprout like mushrooms on the outskirts of cities in the developing world."

We started discussing the issue, examining the subject through the lens of reverse innovation.

Here are five questions Christian and I asked ourselves:

• How can organic, self-built slums be turned into livable housing?
• What might a house-for-the-poor look like?
• How can world-class engineering and design capabilities be utilized to solve the problem?
• What reverse-innovation lessons might be learned by the participants in such a project?
• How could the poor afford to buy this house?

Livable Housing. Our first thought was that self-built houses are usually built from materials that are available — cardboard, plastic, mud or clay, metal scraps and whatever else is nearby. Built on dirt floors, these structures are prone to collapse and catching fire. Solution: replace these unsafe structures with a mass-produced, standard, affordable, and sustainable solution. We want to create the $300-House-for-the-Poor.

Look and Feel. To designers, our sketch of this house might be a bit of a joke, but it's useful nonetheless to illustrate the concept, to get started. We wanted the house to be an ecosystem of products and solutions designed around the real needs of the inhabitants. Of course it would have to be made out of sustainable, green materials, but more crucially, it would have to be durable enough to withstand torrential rains, earthquakes, and the stress of children playing. The house might be a single room structure with drop-down partitions for privacy. Furniture — sleeping hammocks and fold-down chairs would be built in. The roof would boast an inexpensive solar panel and battery to light the house and charge the mobile phone and tablet computer. An inexpensive water filter would be built in as well.

In effect, the house is really a one-room shed designed around the family ecosystem, a lego-like aggregation of useful products that "bring good things to life" for the poor.

World-Class Design. Our next question was: "Who will do this?" We decided that it would be have to be a collaboration between global design and engineering companies and non-profits with experience solving problems for the poor. The usual suspects ran through our minds — IDEO, GE, TATA, Siemens, Habitat-for-Humanity, Partners In Health, the Solar Electric Light Fund, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Gates Foundation, Grameen. Governments may play an important part is setting the stage for these types of cross-country innovation projects.

The Reverse Innovation Payoff. Participating companies will reap two rewards. First, they will be able to serve the unserved, the 2.5 billion who make up the bottom of the pyramid. Second, they create new competencies which can help transform lives in rich countries by creating breakthrough innovations to solve several problems (scaled housing for hurricane victims, refugees, and even the armed forces).

A House of One's Own: Affordability. To move beyond charity, the poor must become owners of their homes, responsible for their care and upkeep. The model of social business introduced by Muhammad Yunus resonates strongly with us. Micro-finance must surely play a role in making the $300 House-for-the-Poor a viable and self-sustaining solution.

Of course, the idea we present here is an experiment. Nevertheless, we feel it deserves to be explored. From the one-room shacks in Haiti's Central Plateau to the jhuggi clusters in and around Delhi, to the favelas in São Paulo, the problem of housing-for-the-poor is truly global.

We ask CEOs, Governments, NGOs, Foundations: Are there any takers?

Courtesy :http://blogs.hbr.org/govindarajan/2010/08/the-300-house-a-hands-on-lab-f.html

Mayamai Potunnadamma Manishanna Vadu !

CREATING AWARENESS ON LOKPALL BILL !

CREATING AWARENESS ON LOKPAL BILL

Government of India has put a condition that 25 CRORES of people support is needed to implement 'LOKPAL-BILL'. For this we just have to GIVE A call (free) to the number - +91 22 61550789 from your mobile. The call gets cut automatically after 1 ring. After giving a call to this number you will receive a thanks message. Please forward this to as many to make India corruption free. Please do it once, call the number...no charges.. do it for your country. In case you do not already know this ---- See how Lokpal Bill can curb the politicians , Circulate it to create awareness
Differences between Existing System and System Proposed by civil society
Without Lokpal : No politician or senior officer ever goes to jail despite huge evidence because Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and CBI directly come under the government. Before starting investigation or initiating prosecution in any case, they have to take permission from the same bosses, against whom the case has to be investigated.
With Lokpal : Lokpal at centre and Lokayukta at state level will be independent bodies. ACB and CBI will be merged into these bodies. They will have power to initiate investigations and prosecution against any officer or politician without needing anyone’s permission. Investigation should be completed within 1 year and trial to get over in next 1 year. Within two years, the corrupt should go to jail.
Without Lokpal : No corrupt officer is dismissed from the job because Central Vigilance Commission, which is supposed to dismiss corrupt officers, is only an advisory body. Whenever it advises government to dismiss any senior corrupt officer, its advice is never implemented.
With Lokpal : Lokpal and Lokayukta will have complete powers to order dismissal of a corrupt officer. CVC and all departmental vigilance will be merged into Lokpal and state vigilance will be merged into Lokayukta.
Without Lokpal : No action is taken against corrupt judges because permission is required from the Chief Justice of India to even register an FIR against corrupt judges.
With Lokpal : Lokpal & Lokayukta shall have powers to investigate and prosecute any judge without needing anyone’s permission.
Without Lokpal : Nowhere to go - People expose corruption but no action is taken on their complaints.
With Lokpal : Lokpal & Lokayukta will have to enquire into and hear every complaint.
Without Lokpal : There is so much corruption within CBI and vigilance departments. Their functioning is so secret that it encourages corruption within these agencies.
With Lokpal : All investigations in Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be transparent. After completion of investigation, all case records shall be open to public. Complaint against any staff of Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be enquired and punishment announced within two months.
Without Lokpal : Weak and corrupt people are appointed as heads of anti-corruption agencies.
With Lokpal : Politicians will have absolutely no say in selections of Chairperson and members of Lokpal & Lokayukta. Selections will take place through a transparent and public participatory process.
Without Lokpal : Citizens face harassment in government offices. Sometimes they are forced to pay bribes. One can only complaint to senior officers. No action is taken on complaints because senior officers also get their cut.
With Lokpal : Lokpal & Lokayukta will get public grievances resolved in time bound manner, impose a penalty of Rs 250 per day of delay to be deducted from the salary of guilty officer and award that amount as compensation to the aggrieved citizen.
Without Lokpal : Nothing in law to recover ill gotten wealth. A corrupt person can come out of jail and enjoy that money.
With Lokpal : Loss caused to the government due to corruption will be recovered from all accused.
Without Lokpal : Small punishment for corruption- Punishment for corruption is minimum 6 months and maximum 7 years.
With Lokpal : Enhanced punishment - The punishment would be minimum 5 years and maximum of life imprisonment.

India's second freedom struggle !

NEW DELHI: Taking on the government, civil rights activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday went on a day-long fast at Rajghat, declaring that his agitation against corruption was the "second freedom struggle" and threatened another hunger strike from August 16 if Lokpal Bill is not passed by then.

He accused the government of putting "hurdles" in the drafting of Lokpal Bill and trying to defame the civil society members of the joint panel, such as Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Santosh Hegde and Arvind Kejriwal through a "discreet" campaign.

Hazare, joined by his associates and a few thousand supporters, went on the hunger strike to protest the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev's supporters during their agitation against corruption here on Saturday night, which he termed as a "blot on humanity" and attempt to "stifle democracy".

After paying floral tributes at Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi, he reached the protest site at around 10.20 am to a rousing welcome from supporters who assembled there amid heavy police presence.

"Mahatma Gandhi fought for our freedom but we are yet to achieve real independence. The second struggle of independence has started. We are ready to sacrifice our lives but will not buckle under pressure," Hazare said.

Mounting pressure on the government to quickly enact a law to curb corruption, he said he will launch an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar here from August 16 if the Lokpal Bill is not passed by then.

Hazare's indefinite fast in April had evoked nationwide support forcing the government to set up a joint committee of civil society members and ministers to draft the bill