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. CHAPTER XV,
Most of the houses consistof a single room 8 x10" with or without
8 verandah and such dwellings are frequently shared by two,
three and four families. It is not uncommon for the floor to be below
ground level and drainage, ventilation and sanitation are entirely
wanting. Hitherto no outside agency, public or private, has undertaken
the provision of sanitary dwellings, but certain employers have
entered on large and directly unremunerative schemes for s proportion
of their workers.
Employers’ Schemes in Cawnpore.
The British India Corporation has gradually extended its
settlements, commenced many years ago, until they now provide for
about 83 to 90% of their workers. Others have made partial
provision for their employees and a total of about 3,100 quarters have been
built by employers. The best employers’ housing scheme in Cawnpore
is that of the British India Corporation at McRobertganj. In this settle-
ment, 26 acres in extent, 676 single quarters, 140 double quarters and 12
bungalow cottages have been erected. The different grades of quarters
generally conform to the same sanitary type, being 12x 10’X 10’ in
size, and are usually arranged in small groups around large open stone-
paved courtyards shaded with trees and provided with a central water
supply. Masonry drains and open spaces at the back permit of sanita-
tion and ventilation. The double quarters have house latrines kept in
order by a private conservancy staff and other quarters have public
latrines water-flushed and connected with the municipal sewers. Water,
sewerage and lighting are supplied by the municipality. About 300
quarters are given rent free, so that the return on the total capital outlay
is not more than 2%, and, although sub-letting is not prevalent, outsiders
are not infrequently brought in as relations. Up to the present the
British India Corporation has constructed 2,254 quarters in which over
8,000 persons are housed and fifty acres additional land has recently
been purchased with a view to extending its housing settlements. No-
where has such a successful effort been made to solve the problem of
housing for factory labour, yet nowhere is the problem more acute.
A proposal to undertake a joint housing scheme for 20,000 operatives
hss been under consideration by the millowners for some years: but, as
this depends on the compulsory acquisition of the necessary land, it
has so far failed to develop.

The Cawnpore Improvement Trust.

Although the Cawnpore Improvement Trust has been in
existence since 1919 and considerable improvements have been effected
by opening up some of the more overcrowded areas, little progress has
been made in the construction of additional working class houses. The
Improvement Trust may lease, or compulsorily acquire, land required
for carrying out an improvement scheme which may include the provi-
sion of accommodation for any class of the inhabitants. The Trust can,
therefore, acquire land compulsorily for the building of working class
dwellings, but it is not charged with the specific duty of their construe-