Pucca housing (or pukka) refers to dwellings that are designed to be solid and permanent. The term is applied to housing in South Asia built of substantial material such as stone, brick, cement, concrete, or timber.
The term pucca means 'solid' and 'permanent', from Hindi पक्का pakkā, literally 'cooked, ripe'. It is contrasted with कच्चा kaccā 'raw, unripe', referring to buildings of flimsy construction. Pucca homes are typically made of concrete, stone, clay tiles, and/or metal, in contrast to older homes made of mud and organic material. These building methods are more costly and labor intensive than more traditional building methods.
In India, there is currently a large-scale effort to build pucca houses for people. The organization Indira Awas Yojana was created to help the rural poor throughout the country, by providing them with pucca houses. 267,543 houses were constructed under IAY during 2009. [1]
Pucca houses are sometimes built to replace homes damaged by natural disasters. [2]