Housing

Amma’s house-building project provides free houses for the homeless and slum-dwellers. In 1998, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister of India at the time, handed over a symbolic key for the first 5,000 free homes to beneficiaries in Kerala.

By 2002, the initial target of 25,000 homes throughout India had been met, and Amma immediately made a second pledge— this time to build 100,000 houses throughout India.

The M.A. Math is providing free homes and constructing villages all over India. This vast project is possible thanks to the selfless service of Amma’s monastic disciples and volunteers. They not only supervise the construction of the houses but also build roads, provide electricity, drill bore wells and install water tanks. Houses commonly have two rooms, a verandah and separate bathrooms.

State governments are providing land for the M.A. Math’s new developments in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the North, W. Bengal in the East, Rajasthan and Maharashtra in the West, and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the South.

The Amrita Kuteeram residents have finally been able to leave the slums, where crowding, petty crime and lack of hygiene are rampant. As they no longer need to pay rent, the Kuteeram residents have money to purchase essential items that they previously had to go without.

For each development, the M.A. Math builds a community hall where residents can come together and celebrate cultural festivals. The branch ashrams support the community by providing informal schooling and helping the adults to find new work opportunities. Amrita Kuteerams are thus instrumental in providing the poor with a whole new start in life.