Think India Foundation

Maharashtra all set to kick off urban health mission in Mumbai

The state public health department is all set to launch the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), the centrally-sponsored flagship scheme for providing a public health delivery system to the urban poor, in Mumbai.

The scheme, which aims to cater to the health needs of urban poor and ignored populations such as the homeless, street children and rag pickers, is meant for towns and cities with a population of above 50,000. About 60% of Mumbai’s population lives in slums and does not have access to organised health services. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Marketing training for urban poor

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will train the urban poor in improving their marketing skills by opening a micro-business centre on public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The state government has allotted 0.16 acre to the BMC for construction of the centre. It will hand over the land to Centurion University of Technology and Management, which is a partner in the project, to be undertaken under Swarna Jayanti Sahar Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY). Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Thiruvananthapuram slums present a grim picture

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Response to workshop on a Central project presents RAY of hope

The results of an ongoing survey of slums within the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation — which is almost complete — reveals high figures of unemployment, alcoholism, and drinking water shortage, highlighting the need for inclusive development, as promised by the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a ‘slum-free India’ programme by the Union government.

Mayor K. Chandrika presented the facts, based on the 75 per cent of the data obtained, during the first stakeholders’ consultation workshop held earlier this month by the city Corporation’s RAY technical cell. As much as 41 per cent of around 52,190 people interviewed so far are addicted to alcohol or drugs, 43 per cent are unemployed, and 52 per cent of those with pipe water connection get erratic supply. According to officials, the physical survey is complete and all that remains is for it to be entered into a Management Information System (MIS). Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Urban PHCs to work from noon till night

NEW DELHI : Aim is to help urban poor go to health facilities after working hours

To help urban poor go to health facilities after working hours, urban primary health centres, planned under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), will function from noon to 8 p.m. Out-patient departments at standard health facilities worked only in the morning; when patients had to go to work, visiting a doctor or hospital would mean losing a day’s salary, Anuradha Gupta, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said. Another important feature of the NUHM was the inclusion of urban-centric issues: domestic violence, sexual exploitation, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, and child and drug abuse, and gender-related matters. “These are broadly urban issues, but need to be addressed,” Ms. Gupta told The Hindu. For this, the NUHM would work in coordination with non-governmental and civil society organisations.

The NUHM, approved recently by the Cabinet, will run parallel to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Reproductive and child health programmes apart, it will address communicable and non-communicable diseases, especially State-specific diseases such as sickle-cell and flourosis. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Managing Indian cities

The Indian Institute for Human Settlements(IIHS) is accepting applications for its 'Programme for Working Professionals in Urban Development (PWP-UD )' scheduled to run from September 2013 to August 2014. The PWP-UD is an, inter-disciplinary , practice-based programme that allows participants to build upon their existing backgrounds to specialise in urban practice. 

Taught by a diverse faculty of leading academics and practitioners, it is designed to focus on applied learning and skill-development necessary for finding effective, sustainable and integrated solutions to problems facing Indian cities. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

GDA to implement schemes for urban poor

LUCKNOW: Training their eyes on the urban poor this time, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has approved 29 proposals that are expected to benefit the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and farmers residing in the region.

According to an announcement made by the GDA vice chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav, the latest proposal entails a payment of Rs 3500 per sq metre, equivalent to 6% farmers of the developed plot, from the total acquired area. According to existing plans, GDA will also enforce an existing affordable housing scheme, under which builders will allot 10% of the total flats constructed to Low Income Group (LIG) and EWS families. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

MP govt woos urban poor with title deeds

JABALPUR: Eyeing a hat-trick of assembly poll victories, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has now come up with a land scheme for the urban poor.

Under the programme, unauthorized slum dwellers will be granted pattas (title deeds) by July 30 — well before the model code of conduct comes into force for the elections that will be held later this year. The government's target is to distribute title deeds among 75,000 people. Government sources say the process of identifying the beneficiaries is under way. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

IHDSPs housing benefits over 23,000 families in MP

BHOPAL: So far, 23,000 houses have been constructed for poor urban slum dwellers under Integrated Housing and Slums Development Programme ( IHDSP), according to a press release here on Tuesday. 

Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme targets the poor living conditions of slums and clusters in cities and mofussil towns and attempts to improve the housing stock and basic infrastructure and coverage service delivery to the poor. The programme runs on a project mode. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Slums turn haven for consumer firms

Mumbai : About 6% of India's population, or about 7.2 crore people, live in slums, according to the 2011 census.

Consumer companies have been going that extra mile to tap rising incomes and product awareness in hinterlands.

However, they need not go that far as a huge potential lay in the backyard: city slums. 
With products like Maggi noodles also becoming a staple for slum kids and branded talcum powder, hair oils household items, a huge entry-level premium product market awaits consumer firms, according to a report by Ritika Mankar Mukherjee, research analyst of Ambit Capital. Read more

Source : www.dnaindia.com

Rice at Re.1 per kg for poor families in Karnataka

Bangalore : 

Thirty kg of rice per month will be sold at Re.1 per kg for BPL (below poverty line) families across Karnataka from June 1, newly sworn-in state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced here Monday.

"The subsidised rice scheme will benefit 9.82 million (98 lakh) BPL families living in rural and urban areas and will cost the exchequer Rs.460 crore (Rs.4.6 billion)," Siddaramaiah told reporters at Vidhana Soudha soon after assuming office. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com 

Civic body survey of 35% slums complete in Aurangabad

AURANGABAD: The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has completed more than 35% of the survey of the city's slums as part of the first phase of the Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY). 

AMC executive engineer Sikandar Ali on Sunday said the rest of the survey would be completed in the next six months. "As part of the Rajiv Awas Yojana, the government conducts a socio-economic survey of slum dwellers. Other procedures carried out include the issuance of biometric identity cards, generation of web-enabled database, development of maps and preparation of slum rehabilitation plans. The government will plan a housing scheme for slum dwellers after all the other procedures are completed," Ali said. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

40,000 low-cost flats to be built for urban poor

NEW DELHI: Delhi Government on Saturday approved a long-pending proposal to construct around 40,000 low-cost flats in the capital for distribution among urban poor. 

In a meeting chaired by chief minister Sheila Dikshit, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) also announced to allot 14,000 low cost flats by September. For a year now, the board had been sitting on the distribution of these 14,000 flats, constructed under JNNURM, and around 48,000 flats which are still under construction. "DUSIB has already chalked out a schedule to organize camps for determining eligibility and the houses will be allotted shortly. It has been clearing around 200 cases every day. The schedule for the month of May and June has been prepared. This will involve around 30 clusters, wherein more than 3900 cases are to be cleared for allotment on in-situ basis. Residents in clusters are being informed and educated so that they can come prepared with necessary documents," said Dikshit. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Aadhar will help eradicate poverty in India by 2030: World Bank

The World Bank has described India's Aadhaar card, meant to provide a unique identity number to every citizen, as one of the best example of integration of technology for social welfare use.

Jim Yong Kim, president of the global soft lender, said at a recent function that he believes this massive effort by the Indian government would help in achieving his goal of poverty eradication by 2030. Read more

Source : www.domain-b.com

Why TN, Kerala are ahead of UP, Bihar in terms of development

Bangalore: Quality of governance and better leadership has led to southern states surging ahead of their northern counterparts, widening the gap in terms of per capita income and poverty between the south and north, says a study.

Per capita incomes in the south (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) have risen fast and poverty has declined in recent years. Reuters

Per capita incomes in the south (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) have risen fast and poverty has declined in recent years and the reason is quality of governance, better leadership and political stability, according to study conducted by the Public Affairs Centre. Read more

Source : www.firstpost.com

Despite success stories, most cities still offer a dark reality

While the majority of Indians still live in rural areas, this, too, is changing fast. From 1970 to 2010, India's urban population grew by 250 million. The next quarter-billion will be added in half that time. By 2030, 70 per cent of India's GDP will come from its cities.

But cities are simply unable to cope with the influx of migrants on the current scale. The fast-growing metropolises of India, China, Brazil, and other major emerging economies offer plenty of jobs, but basic amenities are lacking; as a result, many of the urban poor live in slums, without adequate health care, water supplies, or electricity. Read more

Source : www.timesofoman.com

National Campaign 'Humara Bachpan' Launched in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Every child has a right to live in a safer and healthier living condition so as the children living in urban poverty said Mr. Devi Prasad Mishra, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Odisha launching “Humara Bachpan” a national campaign on young children living in urban poverty, Shri Mishra assured the support of his department in building safe and healthy physical environment for children.

On this occasion Padmashri Jockin Arputham, a Magsaysay Awardee & President, International Slum Federation emphasised on a child friendly neighbourhood which could be guaranteed by providing access to housing and basic services to the urban poor with practical planning. Read more

Source : indiaeducationdiary.in

Mumbai HC to hear PIL on night shelters for the homeless

MUMBAI: Bombay high court will hear today public interest litigation seeking direction to the state government to set up night shelters for the homeless. 

A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha will hear a petition filed by NGO Homeless Collective, alleging that state government had made false submissions to Supreme Court on the number and conditions of the shelters in Mumbai. SC in 2010 had mandated setting up of year round night shelters while hearing a petition on urban malnourishment. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Lead bank scheme to enter metros soon

Bangalore : Forty-four years after it was conceived by the Gadgil Study Group in October 1969, and its consequent implementation by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the same year, the ‘Lead Bank Scheme’ (LBS) will finally be introduced in metropolitan cities, with the intention of addressing a much neglected constituency -- the urban poor.

“The scheme emphasises making specific banks in each of the cities key instruments of local development by entrusting them with the responsibility of locating growth centres, assessing deposit potential, identifying credit gaps and evolving a co-ordinated approach to credit deployment, in concert with other banks and credit agencies,” an RBI official said on Saturday. Read more

Source : www.deccanherald.com

Asian Development Bank facing funding crunch, warns India

NEW DELHI: The Asian Development Bank is facing a funding crunch as the multilateral lending agency seeks to reduce widespread poverty in emerging market nations and boost infrastructure, India warned Saturday. 

The Asia-Pacific region, despite boasting the world's fastest-growing economies, is still home to around two-thirds of the world's poor, with some 1.5 billion people living on less than $2 a day. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

NCP targets CM on expensive MHADA flats, delayed Mumbai Metro

Mumbai: Targeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, NCP on Thursday asked him to direct the state housing body MHADA to lower prices of flats in this year's lottery, and demanded a clear statement on when the under-construction Mono-rail and Metro rail in Mumbai would start operating.

Speaking to reporters here, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the rich can purchase flats at any cost, but government housing schemes were for the poor. "MHADA should ensure that there are affordable houses for the poor and the middle classes," he said. Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com

Fewer farmers call for urban reform

One lazy assumption, that most Indians live in villages and work their farms, has been demolished by census numbers released on Tuesday. These show that the number of "cultivators", people who own farms, fell by nearly nine million in the decade from 2001. It is also the first time, since 1971, when the absolute number of farmers has fallen. This tallies with a robust observation of economic history: as nations develop, people move from farm to factory. However, as people move away from farms and into cities in search of something else to do, most are diverted into informal jobs. This increasing informalisation of the workforce is dangerous for three reasons: it tends to perpetuate poverty, reduce productivity and yield lower revenues to governments. India's rigid labour laws, drawn up to protect the interests of its tiny formal-worker elite, need to be thoroughly revamped to let employers absorb more workers in formal occupations. 

But that will not be enough. In February this year, economists Ejaz Ghani and Ravi Kanbur published a paper which showed that across the developing world, more and more people were moving into informal jobs in cities. They also found that this informality was remarkably persistent. Of the more than dozen nations they surveyed, India had the highest level of informality; and it was as high in 2005 as it was in pre-reform 1989. Though their work suggests that informality could decline as people become better off — Chile and Turkey are richer than India and have more people working formal jobs — it is not enough to sit around and play catch-up. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Poverty amid progress in Asia worries ADB chief

GREATER NOIDA : With Asia still facing many developmental challenges despite remarkable growth in the past few decades, Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Takehiko Nakao on Thursday lamented that the region was still home to over 800 million people steeped in poverty. 

President of Asian Development Bank Takehiko Nakao addresses a press conference in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

“It is disheartening that in a region of such rapid progress, we still have a population of more than 800 million people living in absolute poverty. This, along with growing inequality, remains an overarching challenge,” Mr. Nakao said in his opening statement at a press conference at the 46th annual meeting of the ADB Board being held at the Indian Expo Mart at Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) in the National Capital Region (NCR). Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Govt to allocate 7,000 EWS houses by June

New Delhi : Pre-poll move Surveys being conducted in jhuggi jhopri clusters across city to identify beneficiaries.

More than five years after around 14,000 houses meant for economically weaker sections (EWS) of society were built and still remain unused, the Delhi government has fast-tracked housing allocations. With the Assembly elections around the corner, the government hopes to allocate at least 7,000 EWS houses by the end of June and complete the remaining before September. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Haryana may shift fair price shops to civic bodies

CHANDIGARH: In a bid to improve the public distribution system in Haryana, the state government is mulling to shift the privately-owned fair price shops to civic bodies and panchayati raj institutions.

The proposal has been made with the plan to target nearly 12 lakh BPL card holders and beneficiaries of Antyodaya scheme. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

K'taka Polls: Money, alcohol flow freely in Bangalore slums

Bangalore : Come elections, slums spread across India's IT hub wear festive look. As state is all set to vote for Karnataka Assembly Elections 2013 slated on May 5, money, freebies and alcohol are flowing freely in the slum areas of the city.

Slum-dwellers have suddenly become much sought after by political parties of all hues with loads of cash to lure them to election rallies. Many of the slum dwellers openly admitted that their vote would go to those doling out more money. Read more

Source : news.oneindia.in

Slum-dwellers losing faith in public health facilities

 Mumbai : AROUND 18 per cent of people in low-income slums are moving from above poverty line to below it, reveals a new study on the health of urban poor by International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai.

The study, which covered Pune, Bhubaneswar and Jaipur, attributes this to the fact that a large majority of the urban poor is opting for expensive private health services, leading to massive "out-of-the-pocket expenditure". Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Land shortage cloud on housing scheme

Lucknow : Unavailability of land may affect the Aasra housing scheme for the urban poor, which the Akhilesh Yadav government had launched after closing Kanshiram Shahri Garib Awas Yojna of the previous Mayawati government last year.

After 10 months of surveys across the state, only 20 of the 75 districts have sent reports of availability of land. Read more

Source : www.indianexpress.com

Govt to launch job plan for urban poor

New Delhi : With barely a year left for parliamentary elections, the Centre plans to launch a tweaked version of its flagship job plan, NREGS, customised for the urban poor - whose numbers are steadily rising.  

The National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) would provide skill development training to four million urban poor during the 12th plan period (2012-17). Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Is urbanization the key to poverty reduction?

MUMBAI: A new report released recently by supra-national agencies the World Bank and International Monetary Fund states that urbanization, if managed well, helps pull people out of poverty.

The Global Monitoring Report 2013 which compares well-being in cities versus rural areas describes urbanization as being a major force behind poverty reduction and progress towards other millennium development goals. "Urban infant mortality rates range from 8-9 percentage points lower than the rural rates in Latin America and Central Asia; to 10-16 percentage points in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa and highest in East Asia (21 percentage points)," it states. It points out that 60% of urban dwellers in South Asia have access to sanitation amenities as compared to 28% in rural areas. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Punjab slums rise to success

CHANDIGARH: Punjab's slum dwellers are no more the have-nots of society. The latest data on slums in the state has thrown up startling facts - four out of every five slum households possess a television, three out of every four households have a telephone, 4.3% own a laptop with internet access and 7% have computers without internet, every third house has a two-wheeler and 7.3% of the populace owns cars.

Life in the slums of Punjab might not be cushy but these are thriving hotspots for business as well. Punjab has 14.2% of slums in the urban areas - out of 143 statutory towns in Punjab, 71 have slums spread over 18 districts in the state. The census data shows that slums are vibranteconomic clusters and entrepreneurial hubs where the poor are climbing up the ladder of opportunity and income. In Punjab, 17.7% of the slum houses are being used for non-residential purposes such as shop, office, hotel, lodge, hospital and dispensary. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The Arriving Millions

Multitudes have to be connected to modernity for our great leap forward

A group of BPO recruits at a training session in Uttarakhand

It has become a cliche to speak of India as a land of paradoxes. The old joke about our country is that anything you say about India, the opposite is also true. We like to think of ourselves as an ancient civilisation but we are also a young republic; our IT experts stride confidently into the twenty-first century but much of our population seems to live in each of the other twenty centuries. Quite often, the opposites coexist quite cheerfully. One of my favourite images of India is from the last Kumbh Mela, of a naked sadhu, straight out of central casting, with matted hair, ash-smeared forehead and scraggly beard, a rudraksha mala around his scrawny neck and a distant gaze in his eyes, for all the world a picture of timeless other-worldliness, chatting away on a mobile phone.

Young Indians are growing into such a paradoxical India. What are the prospects for the expansion of the participative political space in tomorrow’s India, say over the next two decades? To me this desirable objective requires both growth and equity. It is happening, but there’s still a lot that needs to be done before we get there. Read more

Source : www.outlookindia.com

Slum kids get a reason to dance at Nagpur

NAGPUR: With no fancy trappings of the high-end dance workshops being held in the city, the event at Wankar Bhavan in Laxmi Nagar was one of its kind. Organized by the Slum Development Committee of Rotary Club of Nagpur, in association with Bivash Academy of Dance, Kolkata, 'Dancing Stars' was for the underprivileged kids from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) schools and slums around the city.

To encourage these kids, the club has been organizing cultural programmes on festive occasions. "But through this activity we decided to widen the scope and provide a bigger platform to them," said Atul Shah, president of the club. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Illegal Districts Dot New Delhi as City Swells

NEW DELHI — New Ashok Nagar is a typical crosscut of Indian urban chaos: Dust rises off battered, narrow lanes, tangles of telephone and electricity lines hang between poorly constructed, mismatched brick buildings. Sewage overflows from uncovered channels. And people are in the streets, in the doorways, everywhere.

New Ashok Nagar, an “unauthorized colony” in New Delhi.

What is also fairly typical about New Ashok Nagar is that it is not supposed to exist. The district, on the eastern edge of New Delhi, is an “unauthorized colony,” with an estimated 200,000 residents despite its lack of government approvals or full city services. Across New Delhi, as many as 5 million of the city’s 17 million residents live in unauthorized colonies, whether in slums, middle-class areas or even a few illegally constructed enclaves of the rich. Read more

Source : www.nytimes.com

MC's poverty alleviation cell awarded

CHANDIGARH: On the occasion of HUDCO Day(Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited) on April 25, State Urban Poverty Alleviation Cell of the Chandigarh municipal corporation was chosen for the Best Practices Award 2012-13 in the category of urban poverty alleviation, environment and infrastructure.

The award was given by Arun Kumar Mishra, secretary ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation at Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi, on Thursday. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

K'taka polls: Cong promises rice at Re 1 a kg, interest-free farm loan

The party is seeking to return to power after a gap of seven years

The Congress on Wednesday unveiled a series of promises to the citizens of Karnataka, including 1 kg rice at Re 1 with a maximum of 30 kg for below poverty line card holders, interest-free loans to farmers and free laptops to pre-university students, if it returns to power. Assembly elections are being held on May 5.

The party, which is seeking to return to power after a gap of seven years, has also promised to develop an 8-lane expressway between Bidar in the North to Chamarajanagar in the South to promote industrial development. Connectivity with major ports and airports, industrial townships, promotion of garments, textiles, engineering, automobile industries and creation of 5 million jobs are some of the other promises included in the party's pre-poll manifesto. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

A count that just does not add up

Imprecise estimates of slums in the 2011 census could affect welfare programmes for least privileged groups

Mumbai’s Dharavi slum

The recently published census 2011 report on housing stock, amenities and assets in slums, the first of its kind in the country, reassuringly announced that the number of urban slums has declined and the percentage of households in slums has dropped from 23.5 (2001) to 17.4. On the face of it, this reduction appears to be a significant accomplishment and calls for praise. The government has concluded that cities are not as worse off as they were assumed to be since the new numbers reveal a lower percentage of slums. But the truth is far from it. Not only have the absolute numbers increased, but even the enumerated figures are inaccurate. It is a gross underestimate that can mislead and undermine social housing programmes. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Funds misspent in rural plan: CAG

New Delhi : The comptroller and auditor general has said that the government’s flagship rural employment scheme is disconnected from the poverty regions of the country, suggesting that proper implementation would have improved the lot of the poor.

A CAG report auditing the performance of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) between April 2007 and March 2012 says that Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh account for 46% of India’s rural poor but the states were able to utilise only 20% of the funds spent nationally. Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

India’s Biometric IDs Put Its Poorest on the Map

People who grew up in Britain in the 1960s will remember a television program that built a cult following: “The Prisoner.” It was about an oddly luxurious detention camp -- a kind of Guantanamo Bay by Four Seasons, spa services and brainwashing included. Even if you wanted to, trying to escape was pointless. A big balloon would chase you and bring you back. The residents didn’t have names, just numbers. The show’s tagline was: “I am not a number. I am a free man.”

The phrase came to mind while I listened this week to Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys Ltd. (INFY) and one of the world’s most successful information-technology entrepreneurs. Speaking at the Center for Global Development in Washington, he was describing India’s remarkable Unique Identification (UID) project, also called Aadhaar, which he is leading. Read more

Source : www.bloomberg.com

GHMC Mayor unhappy at slow pace of housing project

HYDERABAD : The GHMC has taken up construction of 51,340 houses in 114 colonies for the poor with funding from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Over the years it has managed to complete 27,370 houses and just 11,057 have been handed over to the beneficiaries. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Evicted slum-dwellers camp outside LG office in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: Sixty-year-old Sakina was among those camping outside lieutenant governor Tejendra Khanna's office on Monday afternoon. They planned to make the place their home till the Delhi Development Authority made good the LG's directions for just allotment and relocation of those evicted from various slums and relegated to the peripheries of Bawana. Among the protesters were families who had lost their bare essentials and dwellings after a blaze engulfed their cluster in Bawana earlier this month. 

Men, women and children started gathering on the route to Raj Niwas in the morning. They peacefully camped on the road after the police set up barricades to keep the LG's house out of bounds. It was only around 3.30 pm that senior officials took note of their presence and acknowledged their memorandum of demands. The LG's office confirmed they had met the evictees, and Khanna had summoned DDA officers to learn about the cause for delay. The slum-dwellers have protested outside his house twice in the past two years. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Study finds high levels of literacy in urban slums of Coimbatore

COIMBATORE : The survey covered 456 respondents in 26 urban slums

98.25 percent of children between the ages six and 12 years are enrolled in school, finds a study on literacy levels. File photo: K. Ananthan

A study undertaken in slums within the city has revealed that urban poor placed huge importance on educating their children, which they see as a key to securing a better future. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Awaiting government nod to give housing loans to poor

KOCHI : With the state government failing to take up the request of the Kochi Corporation for an exemption to provide individual housing loans to BPL families under the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) scheme, apprehensions have been raised about the successful implementation of the scheme.

As per Rajiv Awas Yojana  guidelines, the Central Government will provide funds for the development of slums by constructing housing units as clusters. Read more

Source : newindianexpress.com

Umeed project for Bandra's slum children

MUMBAI: The project Umeed, as the name suggests focuses on fulfilling the hopes of children and the communities in Bandra. Umeed project hopes to enhance the lives of urban slum children in the areas of child protection, education, vocational training, child participation and health in the project area.

With this aim the Umeed project is being implemented since June 2009 and reaches out to approximately 1800 families (specifically in four communities in Bandra named Garibnagar, Pipeline, Patel nagar and Kherwadi). 'Basti Ki Dhamal' is an event organized to let the community and stakeholders (children, women, parents, local groups etc) get a platform to bring the community together and create a space for innovative expression. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Akhilesh Yadav Separates Poor In State | Free Housing Scheme Aasra 'Only For Urban Poor'

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav classifies the deprived population in the state as 'Urban Poor' & 'Rural Poor'. The state government has launched a new housing scheme for the urban poor called 'Aasra'. The scheme will only benefit the poor population living in the cities.

As per the scheme, the poor people will be provided with the houses free of cost. But despite being a good scheme, it turned to be a joke with the poor of the state as it will only benefit the poor who are currently living in cities not in villages or towns. Read more

Source : www.pardaphash.com

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Slums have reported significant improvement in terms of access to basic amenities and possession of consumer assets, reducing thereby gaps between slum and non-slum areas over time, according to the recently-released Population Census of 2011. The percentages of households having electricity,education, healthcare facilities and consumer assets like cellphones, television, etc, in slums are not much below those of non-slum areas. Furthermore, by most of these indicators of well-being, slum-dwellers are better off than the rural population. The news has been welcomed because all these are being taken as an indication of inclusivity of the cities and opportunities they offer to migrants in slums to get integrated with city lifestyle. 

Urban slums, indeed, offer a plethora of opportunities to the rural population to escape unemployment and improve socio-economic conditions and quality of life. Unfortunately, what has received little attention among the media, researchers and policy-makers is the fact that the percentage of slum population has come down drastically during the past decade. Arun Kumar Misra, secretary in the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation, has observed that “our own projections were that the all-India slum population would be 27.5% by 2011, so the new data comes as a pleasant surprise.” Is the reported figure of slum population as 17% indeed pleasant and satisfying? Read more

Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Bengaluru rues rapid growth as India's IT hub

Technology boom has brought higher incomes but slums proliferate and services are squeezed in crowded 'garden city'
• Urbanisation can be 'force for good'

People walk through Infosys headquarters in Bengaluru, India. Photograph: Getty

Bengaluru was a lovely city until the IT crowd ruined it, so goes the joke. 

"The reason the IT sector came to the city was its reputation as a great city to live in," a resident told me on a recent visit. "Of course, technology created jobs, but the city has grown so fast and become too crowded." Read more

Source : www.guardian.co.uk

Gujarat government's housing policy for urban areas soon

GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat government is ready with its housing policy for urban areas. The policy is expected to be unveiled within a month. Sources say that the government will be announcing two sub-policies on slum rehabilitation and affordable housing in the cities simultaneously.

The government plans to build 22 lakh houses in the urban areas over the next five years out of which seven lakh are meant for rehabilitation of slum dwellers. The government has already got a survey of slums done in various cities. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Rajiv Awas Yojna in pilot stage in Madhya Pradesh

Authorises the state govt to extend financial aid and assign property rights to slum-dwellers for shelter and basic civic and social services

Quality housing is still a dream for slum-dwellers in Madhya Pradesh. This has happened even as the centre's Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) mandates each state to ensure proper infrastructure, basic amenities and housing to slum-dwellers.

Though Madhya Pradesh government has claimed that 16 cities have joined RAY, the authorities have a daunting task to make the state slum-free by upgrading or creating new housing infrastructure in slum areas. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com

RGK, JNNURM houses remain vacant

The 12 projects under Rajiv Gruhakalpa and 24 under the JNNURM scheme have reached the stage of handing over the houses

While the stated aim of housing schemes under the Rajiv Gruhakalpa (RGK) and JNNURM is to provide affordable housing to the urban poor, the beneficiaries of these schemes do not seem very keen on occupying the houses. Read more

Source : www.thehindu.com

Slum makeover

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority in Mumbai is silent on how future slums can be prevented

The biggest challenge in slum upgrade or redevelopment is to establish the ownership of the house built on a plot of encroached land.

And, once houses are handed over, the challenge is to ensure that these remain with slum dwellers and do not get sold off to agents - paving the way for more encroachments. Neither government redevelopment policies nor non-governmental organisations are addressing the need for rental housing for the poor. Read more

Source : www.business-standard.com