Urban poverty
June 6, 2011
An estimated 90 million of the 300 million living in India's roughly 45 cities and over 5,000 towns are poor, according to India’s Planning Commission, which makes official estimates concerning poverty. The current survey on India's urban poor will be carried out in all states and cover all urban households. One of its objectives is to eliminate slums in cities.
The expert group that will carry out this exercise is finalizing the details for methodologically ranking the poor based on specific vulnerabilities in residential, occupational and social categories. But not many are enthused about this survey. Economist Pravin Jha, who has closely studied urban poverty, says the current survey is not comprehensive enough. He is not sure the survey will help, as the "basic issues" are not even addressed in New Delhi, the nation's capital. He says while the situation is bad in Delhi, "if you go around the country, the situation is much worse. I feel there is no proper, no comprehensive plan of any urban infrastructure or a plan for urbanization per se."
Poverty despite growth
Studies also show that in urban China, poor people still have it tough, despite the country’s stellar economic growth. This is particularly true of the families of unemployed people and those who have migrated to cities from rural areas. Waves of migrant workers have been commonplace in China since the mid-1980s.
And similarly it is a paradox of urban India that though migrants play a major role in the creation of wealth and the development of infrastructure, the urban poor themselves are denied shelter, basic amenities and a dignified life. Dunu Roy of the Hazard Centre, an organization working for the urban poor’s rights to housing, health and sanitation, says the poor have not benefited from India’s growth story.
Glitter and gold vs. shanty towns
"We were doing the consultations with the urban poor and what came through was during the past years there has been rapid growth but that growth has not filtered down to the poor, particularly the urban poor," says Roy. "And you can see it in the cities, because on one side you have very glamorous world class cities, very modern and shining, and on the other, you have this hidden city within. Now as many as 80 percent of poor urban people are not benefiting from that growth."
The population of the urban poor is expected to grow. Currently, 40 to 45 percent of India's urban poor live in slums or shanty towns. The rest live under bridges and flyovers, on pavements, or in overcrowded tenements.
Author: Murali Krishnan
Editor: Sarah Berning