Slum Free: Talk to Cities First!!

The national policy makers are determined to have our city 'Slum Free' with a simple agenda to provide all slums an alternate housing (better than now with basic amenities) under the Rajiv Awas Yojna. But is it so simple to get away with slums, the migration of people to the cities would not stop and their desire to stay in city would not go away. The slum dwellers are also part of the this social ladder, where in they are always looking for chance to have better living.

In someway the urban local bodies and those who implement the slum policies are less sympathetic to their target groups. The much talked public participation have seldom undertaken in the slums with local bodies looking away.. and NGOs given responsibility to talk to them to the alternatives. Most of the cases the Slums have never been seriously accounted and consulted on the housing options. Till recently the demolition drive in all the metros hit the slum dwellers hard, with little promise of alternatives. The people are left to live with their plight with insecure, unhealthy and unsafe livelihoods. What can be asked when no comprehensive and long term policy issues are not handled. Scores of schemes dealing with urban poor targets as much their budget permits.

Interface between the academic, administrators and NGOs are limited in the conferences and seminar, they make a poor team on the field. Some of the best success stories are also there when these different views and minds have met in various cities. Complexities of the issues related to Slums have been taken differently when dealt in isolation with slum dwellers themselves. Mostly they have to follow the directions from the administration who may place them in different positions, divide their social network, disturb livelihood and children education.

If cities does not guarentee them home when a new comer arrives then where is the place he/she can settle. In case of 'Slum Free' notion, whether the mass housing schemes are in place for the future population to arrive in particular city. If the answer to the question is not available in the near future then just by changing the physical outlook of the slums does not make it 'slum free'. The people would move to better areas and newcomers would continue to occupy the space left by earlier groups.

Most of the streets would serve large amount of pavement settlers like in Kolkata and Mumbai stopping their chance to look for house in slums. A refuge or shelter in corner of bus stop, public building, Fly over, or underpass would be more common in upcoming cities. Cities need to chalk out effective programs in understaking the serious excercise then spending the funds in the name of schemes like Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY), which would lapse within couple of years to pave way for new schemes.