Marking a milestone in its free housing project, the Yakshagana Kalaranga, Udupi, handed over its 100th free house to a second-year pre-university student, Sinchana, on Sunday, under its initiative to build houses for students from economically weaker sections.

The 100th house, built at Kulmunda near Shivapura in Hebri taluk of Udupi district, has been named Shatasmruthi.

The construction of the house was sponsored by the beneficiaries of all 100 houses put together, rather than by an individual.

Diwan of Udupi Shiroor Mutt Udayakumar Saralattaya inaugurated the house in the presence of Karkala MLA and former Minister V. Sunil Kumar.

Speaking at a function organised by the Kalaranga in Udupi to celebrate the construction of the 100th house, its president M. Gangadhar Rao said the Kalaranga launched the free housing project for meritorious students from economically weaker sections in 2012. “Since the launch of the project, I have travelled 48,000 km in connection with selecting and constructing 100 houses,” he told the gathering.

Mr. Rao said the construction of houses for students would continue.

Speaking on the occasion, H.S. Ballal, Pro-Chancellor of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), said MAHE would sponsor the construction of 50 houses, at 10 houses a year for the next five years.

Dr. Ballal said there was a need to build houses for non-meritorious students who do not have proper homes.

The seer of Sode Vadiraja Mutt, Vishwavallabha Tirtha, said that by building free houses for the needy, the Kalaranga had shown how dharma could be practised.

The secretary of the Kalaranga, Murli Kadekar, said the managing director and chief executive officer of Karnataka Bank, Raghavendra S. Bhat, communicated on Sunday that the bank would sponsor the construction of two houses.

The Kalaranga felicitated the sponsors of the houses and the labourers who built them on the occasion.

The Kalaranga is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of Yakshagana and education. Its Vidya Poshak initiative, launched in 2005, provides students with scholarships, textbooks, a book-bank scheme, health check-ups, medical facilities, and free coaching. Beneficiary meritorious students under the housing project must be enrolled in the Vidya Poshak scheme to receive a free house.