BHUBANESWAR: In its bid to promote affordable housing for rural poor through demonstration of appropriate rural housing technologies, Odisha Government has set up a Rural Technology Park on the campus of State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) here.“The Rural Technology Park would lay emphasis on introduction of appropriate technological inputs for improving productivity and quality of construction with different building materials, techniques and technology,” Chief Secretary AP Padhi said after inaugurating the park.
Padhi said the park will help for skill enhancement of labourers and members of self help groups through training and capacity building programmes with better use of local resources and entrepreneurial skills. It will be a platform for introduction of new and innovative technologies developed by reputed organisations like Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) and young rural entrepreneurs, he said.
The park will also showcase a large number of rural technologies for its demonstration, dissemination and adoption to benefit a larger group of people who are not beneficiaries of Government housing schemes.
As the State Government has set an ambitious target to construct seven lakh pucca houses during the current financial year, extension of appropriate technology and quality construction materials to beneficiaries is of paramount importance, he added.Four low cost housing models developed by CBRI, Roorkee are on display while efforts are on to add two more designs within next 2-4 months, said Superintending Engineer Siba Narayan Barik.