200 Dalit families of Ludwa - the village of our correspondent Amit Kumar in Haryana - are set to get a new house under Indira Awaas Yojana. Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was launched during 1985-86 by the government of India to provide housing to socially and economically underprivileged people. Under the scheme, priority is given to poor people falling into these 3 categories:

Members of Scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities

Freed bonded labourers.

Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, who are victims of atrocity

The 200 families and our correspondent Amit Kumar are members of the same Dalit community called Valmiki. Most of the people in this community live bellow the poverty line. The Valmikis are also considered to be the lowest in the Dalit hierarchy. As a result, they often face atrocities committed by people belonging to upper castes. According to Amit, proper implementation of schemes like Indira Awaas Yojana holds the key to development of underprivileged communities such as his. He also feels as a community correspondent, he has an important role to play in this development process. His video, feels Amit will not only help monitor the progress of the scheme implementation, but also create further awareness among his community, encouraging them to claim their right to proper housing. Besides better living condition, the new house will also mean empowerment of women in Ludwa's Dalit community. This is because under IAY scheme,  a house must be allotted in the name of  a female member of the beneficiary’s family.  As a result,  the women of all these 200 families, for the first time, will have ownership to a property which otherwise goes to the male member.