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THEME PAPER
street children account for minimum shelter, sanitation • In-situ slum
more than 11 million who and drinking water; they are rehabilitation, low-cost
are living on and off the illiterate; and cannot afford rental housing, night
streets. High density of street to send their children to the shelters, dormitories,
children can be observed school. They are also at various hostels, orphanages, etc.
near the railway stations, risks, like the problems of
under flyovers, and in the unemployment, child labour, • Provision of basic
slums, living in adverse insecurity in old age, limited services like sanitation,
and vulnerable conditions. access to healthcare and toilets, drinking water,
The city is for everyone to unhygienic living conditions. electricity, drainage,
live, learn and play. It has to They are caught in a cycle of dustbins, streetlights, etc.
be a catalyst in enhancing perpetual poverty due to non- • Skill development,
the relationship between access to shelter, land, finance, education, literacy,
city and street children and employment and services. healthcare and other
change their circumstances. Participatory learning with community facilities.
In Bangladesh, almost 80 the target groups provides
per cent of the poor families useful clues towards adopting A cooperative model and
have been reached with a ‘needs based approach’. the slum networking can
micro-credit. An exclusive safeguard their tenure
programme focusing on the In order to establish links rights and resettlement.
beggars was also initiated between housing and poverty One example is the Slum
where Grameen Bank gave reduction, it is necessary Networking Project (SNP) in
micro-loans without interest to start with the following Ahmedabad (Figure 2) which
with payment flexibility. They initiatives: was implemented by the
carry small merchandise
such as toys or household Figure 2: Slum Networking Project, Ahmedabad
items, while they go. The idea
worked and many of them Education: Income and Productivity:
More working hours
Increase in school attendance
stopped begging completely Health: More attention to children’s Increased income
Less expenditure on illness
and shifted to micro- Reduced incidence of illness education Increase in asset value
Better cleanliness and personal
Less harsh working conditions
businesses. Under the LiFE Cleaner surrounding
hygiene
mission such programmes environment Empowerment:
Formation of CBOs
can be initiated by the local Social: Slum Awareness and assertion of rights
Greater access to local authorities
communities in association More relatives visiting Networking Better response from local
Project
Better chances for children’s
with the bankers and the marriage authorities
municipal bodies. Less Harassment, quarrels, more Attitude:
privacy and dignity.
Optimistic, positive ethos in the
Improved neighbourhood community
relations.
Slums and Shelter Higher status and greater respect Urge for better living conditions
(e.g. investing in better houses)
n the caste/community Guiding other slums about
According to the Oxfam Reduced tensions in family and Parivartan.
marital life
Report (2015), India has 172 Policy and Administration:
million people below the AMC giving priority to Parivahan slums for other schemes and
poverty line. Many of the programmes
Speedy repair and maintenance of amenities
urban poor are slum dwellers Involvement of MHT in other development programmes
and comprise of women, Extension of Parivartan from one pilot slum in 1995 to 59 slums
by 2001 and approval for 400 slums
children, aged and disabled.
They are malnourished, lack Source: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
October, 2022, Volume 23. No.2 - SHELTER 29
