For better slum policies

For better slum policies

News:

1. Mohit M. Rao, Principal Correspondent at the Hindu’s Bengaluru Bureau, emphasized that India’s rapid urbanization has been proceeding apace for decades, but policy solutions have been shots in the dark.

Important facts:

1. Studies show that socio-economic distress is brewing in slums.
2. The migrants to cities often get struck in a vicious cycle of debt and socio-economic stagnation.
3. The 2011 Census estimated 65 million people in slums, a marked shortfall from the UN-HABITAT’s 2014 estimation of 104 million.
4. Current slum policies primarily focus on housing, relocation or in-situ development of multi-storey complexes, which free up swathes of prime real estate.
5. A long-term, multi-institutional survey by researchers from the Netherlands, the U.S. and a local NGO, Fields of View, reveals that over 70% of families in slums live in debt.
6. The difference between their monthly earnings and expenses is less than ₹1,000 leaving them vulnerable in case of educational, vocational, social or health emergencies.
7. The cumulative effect is that resident’s end up staying in the same slums for an average of 21 years, according to a study helmed by Duke University, U.S. Seven out of 10 households have stayed in slums for at least four generations.
8. Suggestions for welfare of slum dwellers:

• Economic opportunities and employment to these slum dwellers
• Slums resembling tented refugee camps need housing and basic amenities.