Building worker homes near factories will boost competitiveness

Niti Aayog, the Union government's policy think tank, has called for building workers' homes closer to factories by amending existing industrial zoning laws, in order to boost labour productivity and enhance the competitiveness of the country's manufacturing sector.

- Manas Pimpalkhare

The government will launch the Site Adjacent Factory Employee (SAFE) accommodation scheme to provide housing to industrial workers, after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about such a scheme in her budget speech in July, Niti Aayog said in a report.

"Rental housing with dormitory-type accommodation for industrial workers will be facilitated in public-private partnership mode with viability gap funding (VGF) support and commitment from anchor industries," Sitharaman had said in her budget speech.