Alacrity Housing - Ethics First

The price too, was never the same as agreed on initially and increased substantially due to the project cost overrun. Laborers were exploited and not paid even minimum wages. There was also discrimination against women. In addition, black money transactions were common in the industry. No contractor or builder objected to this practice. The underworld was also involved in the construction industry. Builders sought the help of the underworld to remove encroachments on the plots they were going to develop. In return, the underworld demanded huge sums of money. To self regulate the industry and weed out corruption, the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) was established in 1998.

It represented all enterprises dealing with various aspects of real estate development including land development; lay-out; planning; construction of residential; commercial and institutional buildings/complexes; development of townships; provision of urban infrastructure (roads, electricity, drainage, sewerage, water supply) and social infrastructure (recreational, educational and medical facilities); architecture; town planning; supply of building materials; estate finance insurance; and estate marketing and brokerage; and other allied fields. A Code of Ethics was developed (Refer Exhibit I). NAREDCO also developed a rating system in association with CRISIL³ to facilitate prudent investment decisions in real estate ventures.