ensuring public accountability through...
TRANSCRIPT
Ensuring Public Accountability through Community Action
Final Report
15 June, 2005
Institute of Social Studies Trust UG, Floor, Core 6A India Habitat Centre
Lodhi Road New Delhi – 110 003
INDIA
Tel: (91) 011 – 24647873
Fax: (91) 011 – 24648724
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.isst-india.org
Submitted to –
International Development Research Centre, Canada
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Preface The effort that is documented in this report is an example of ISST’s objective of ‘triangulating action, research and policy’ in its work. Building on the findings of the Family Counselling Centre that was run at ISST over several years, a Community Outreach Programme was started in recognition of the fact that multiple interventions are needed to make any dent on the problems women face in daily life. The experience of the Outreach programme further emphasizes the impact and relevance of the city environment, both economic and political, on the situation in which any given group finds itself. This study was an attempt to understand the nature of the interface between the ‘authorities’ and slum residents, with a view to evolving better models of interaction that could address infrastructure and other problems. Around 30-40 % of Delhi’s population is estimated to live in slums. Invisible to a part of the city dwellers, the existence of slums has also stimulated voluntary action. ISST has worked closely with other agencies over the last year and a half in this action research project. We are pleased to acknowledge the co-operation of the two partner NGOs and their representatives, Ms. Vinita Jha of Rasta and Women representatives, Mr. Chandrashekhar and Mr. Ramasray from the Sabla Sangh, Action India, in the project. We were fortunate in getting the co-operation of the Delhi Government and in particular the MCD, in this endeavour. We are especially appreciative of the co-operation extended by Mr. Rakesh Mehta, Commissioner MCD and through him of other MCD staff. We are happy also to acknowledge the co-operation received from other senior officers of the Delhi Government and Delhi Jal Board. The project has been coordinated by Suchi Pande, without whose commitment and energies this complex effort would certainly have floundered. Activities under the project were carried out by the ISST Community Centre team including Ms. Amita Joshi and Ms. Shanta Gururani. Mr. Kapil Das undertook the audio visual documentation of the project process as well as other IEC material. We are very grateful to all the other persons who contributed in various ways. Dr. Jyotsna Bapat, Ms. Manjistha Banerjee, Ms. Medha Bisht, Dr. Joy Deshmukh Ranadive, Ms. Cressida Read, Dr. Solomon Banjamin, Mr. Indu Prakash Singh and Mr. Bikram Jeet Batra contributed their expertise in various ways including the preparation of background research papers. The Project Advisory Committee, including Dr. Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Ira Ray, Mr. Anupam Mishra, and Mr. S. Muralidhar, guided and supported the project process. We are grateful to Ms. Sunand Bhattacharjea for editorial inputs. The project has been supported by the International Development Research Centre (Canada) and we gratefully acknowledge this support. Ratna M. Sudarshan Director, ISST
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Contents
Background ........................................................................................................................ 8 ISST Community Outreach Programme ........................................................................................................... 8
Posing the problem............................................................................................................. 8 Basic assumptions for the project..................................................................................................................... 11
Part II - Report ................................................................................................................. 11 Context .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 The Actors............................................................................................................................................................ 14
Part III.............................................................................................................................. 17
Project Approach.............................................................................................................. 17
Part IV .............................................................................................................................. 25
Interaction and Dialogue Building Process.................................................................... 25
First roundtable discussion............................................................................................ 25
Area Workshops ............................................................................................................ 28
Second roundtable discussion........................................................................................ 33 Formulating a plan of action ............................................................................................................................. 36 Emerging Issues .................................................................................................................................................. 37
Utilising the Right to Information Act ........................................................................... 41
Part V................................................................................................................................ 47 Analysing the interaction/dialogue building process.................................................................................... 47 Understanding NGO involvement in Delhi .................................................................................................... 48 Recommendations - NGO sector...................................................................................................................... 50
Conclusion........................................................................................................................ 56
Learning and looking ahead............................................................................................ 58
ANNEX 1....................................................................................................................... 61
Brief description of the areas visited as part of the preliminary observation exercise .... 61
ANNEX 2....................................................................................................................... 66
Context for Negotiations in Urban slums ....................................................................... 66
ANNEX 3....................................................................................................................... 68
Profiles of Implementing partner NGOs under the Project (East Delhi)........................ 68
ANNEX 4....................................................................................................................... 70
Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs ............................................................................... 70
ANNEX 5....................................................................................................................... 71
Similar Experiences in Delhi and other states in India................................................... 71
ANNEX 6....................................................................................................................... 74
Learnings and Recommendations from the Project Intervention................................... 74
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ANNEX 7....................................................................................................................... 78
Photo Essay.................................................................................................................... 78
References...................................................................................................................... 79
Endnotes:....................................................................................................................... 80 MAPS ..........................................................................................................attached separately
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Abbreviations
MCD Municipal Corporation Delhi
NDMC New Delhi Municipal Corporation
MCD CSE Conservancy and Sanitation Engineering Department MCD
DJB Delhi Jal Board
DDA Delhi Development Authority
PWD Public Works Department
LG Lieutenant Governor
JJ Jhuggi Jhompri
RWA Resident Welfare Association
NCT National Capital Territory
BPL Below Poverty Line
MP Minister of Parliament
MLA Member of Legislative Assembly
CBO Community Based Organisation
PDS Public Distribution System
TPDS Targeted Public Distribution System
ITO Income Tax Office
SEWA Self Employed Women’s Association
AMC Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
PLA Participatory Learning and Action
RR Road Restoration charges
SDS Society for Development Studies
SHG Self Help Group
EWS Economically Weaker Section
GOI Government of India
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Brief overview to the Project ¡ The basis for undertaking the project was the Community Outreach Programme of ISST.
The programme is operational in two slum clusters of East district Delhi. The project
attempted to understand the relationship between these vulnerable groups and the lack of
transparent and accountable governance mechanisms in India. The project also envisaged
a solution to address the handicaps in governance through realisation of the need to move
beyond the ‘right to vote’ towards a ‘right to participate’ in governing ourselves.
¡ In the project ISST viewed itself as a mediator/catalyst agency with an aim to facilitate
necessary action to improve service delivery mechanisms for poor slum communities –
through the challenging process of bringing the two groups- the poor people and
government agents, on to a common platform.
¡ The project was conceived as participatory in nature. The project methodology applied
the qualitative research tools. The purpose was to ensure the interaction of three primary
groups- the urban poor; the non-government organisations and the government agents.
¡ The project viewed the involvement and cooperation of other non-government
organisations as fundamental to carrying out the process on the ground. Their
involvement was sought through a series of round table discussions and area workshops.
Two partner non-government organisations joined the ISST project team to carry out the
process on the ground over a period of 18 months.
¡ In the three distinct settlement types three issues of garbage collection and sanitation,
sewerage connections and community toilet blocks were identified for undertaking the
project process of organising community based groups to interface with government
agencies.
¡ The project process on the ground highlighted critical issues like notions of community,
willingness to participate and dynamics of community action in an urban poor settlement.
¡ The project also contributed towards developing a significant understanding of the
patterns of negotiation existing in urban slums and how these are different from formal
process of participatory governance and the theoretical framework of local diplomacy.
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¡ The activities undertaken also provided valuable insights pertaining to the objectives and
priorities of NGOs and the divide between what slum residents ‘want’ and what the
NGOs think they ‘need.’
¡ The project process was also useful in understanding the constraints of short-term
development projects that at one level provide useful information about human rights,
governance processes and collective action but in the process also raise expectations that
often go unfulfilled due to lack of proper follow up procedures by project implementing
organisation or partner non-government organisations.
¡ One of the major findings was that issues of service delivery and governance are the last
option on which a community or a group is willing to come together. The urban poor
rationalised that issues of sanitation, solid waste management, toilets or sewers, were
basic services that government should provide. As citizens they felt entitled to these
services. The only binding factor was the issue of survival which led people to come
together to find common solutions.
¡ Throughout the project process it was certain that access to information is a stimulant for
public action; it’s a catalyst for change – however these mechanisms appear to be merely
good governance trends as they fail to appropriately facilitate the access of the poor.
¡ With regard to interface with government agencies with particular reference to Delhi it
emerged that the multiple agencies in-charge of service delivery, make it difficult to pin
the responsibility and/or network with any one agency.
¡ In addressing service delivery gaps for the urban poor it is necessary that the service
providers understand that there is a diversity of service users in Delhi and that the service
providers must take a pro-poor approach in assessing demands and meeting demands for
service delivery of basic services.
¡ The project viewed the failure of the state to respect, provide, protect and fulfill as one of
the significant problems with service delivery for the poor.
¡ Finally with insecurity of tenure and social exclusion the poor can do little to exercise
their rights to access services. Therefore it becomes the responsibility of the state and the
society to enable these groups to meet their basic needs.
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Background
ISST Community Outreach Programme
The Institute of Social Studies Trust has run a family counselling centre since 1985. By the year
2000 the counselling centre evolved into a Community Outreach Programme to incorporate
support service activities such as education and awareness generation in two slum communities in
east Delhi.
Under the Outreach programme two Community Outreach sub-centres were set up in slum
clusters in east district Delhi - ‘Saheliyon ki Bari’ in Nehru camp (NH_24) and ‘Apni Phulwari”
in Harijan Basti, (Sonia Camp, Mandawali). The activities were designed to cater to the local
needs of the two slum clusters - from persuading parents to enrol their children in Municipal
Corporation Delhi (MCD) run government schools, to non- formal and remedial activities for
children and neo-literate adults.
The Community Outreach Programme today is working towards enabling women and children
realise their full potential by engaging in activities that allow them to explore and utilise their
own abilities. Of course, both women and children can not or are unable to do this without
support from the men folk at home as well as within their community. Therefore, ISST
encourages maximum involvement of men in their activities. One of the ways of involving the
men is organising monthly meetings at the sub-centres where all are welcome to come and talk,
discuss, share their problems or simply have a chat. Three full-time and several part-time workers
at the Outreach programme have developed a close affinity with the residents of the two clusters.
The focus has been on achieving a holistic and a sustainable development of people in the two
slum communities.
Posing the problem Transparency, accountability and good governance are pre-requisites of a functional democracy.
In this regard India being one of the largest democracies in the world faces an immense
challenge. Although the various systems and structures of governance are in place the process of
implementing the same to ensure and promote accountability and good governance for all is
seriously handicapped.
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The process of governance in India is one that is inefficient to the extent that it threatens any
attempt at good governance and fosters inequality and inequity. An ex-prime minister of India
once observed that ‘less than 15 per cent of official funds marked out for the poor actually reach
them’1. If the system and structures of a democratic set-up of governance are in place and various
schemes and programmes are also in place specifically to cater to the needs of the poor2 – why
does India figure on top of the list of countries with high levels of poverty, mismanagement and
corruption?
The reason at a very basic and simple level is a clear lack of political and bureaucratic will.
Bureaucrats who (as many would agree) run this nation, can actually possess both ‘competence
and commitment’ necessary to foster good governance. Unfortunately they often lack the
commitment. Political parties and their representatives on the other hand take advantage of the
representative democracy and openly violate all promises made at the time of elections. It is
crucial that in order to promote and practice good governance these institutions of governance be
made accountable to the citizens.
The poor on the other hand continue to remain voiceless and powerless. The poor in India not
only suffer from low incomes but also from a sense of social exclusion. They are heavily
dependent on the existing power structures. Annually crores of Indian rupees are allotted in their
name and yet they see nothing in the form of services or deliverables. Their role as citizens of this
country is restricted to an exchange of votes every five years based on false and empty promises.
Although these vulnerable groups turn out in large numbers to vote, the political democracy in
this country continuously fails to deliver on the political assurances given to its people once the
elections are over. In a mismanaged, corrupt, and highly bureaucratised system, like ours,
information and access to information is of great importance. The current need therefore is to
move beyond the ‘right to vote’ towards a ‘right to participate’ in governing ourselves3. Providing
information about services and schemes carried out in the name of the poor carries the ability to
enable a dispossessed poor person to take action against the injustice being done to her/him. The
Right to Information movement in India has progressed, matured and grown fast with 9 states
now having passed Right to Information Acts4 forcing government babus (officers) to be
accountable for their actions and answerable not to their superiors but to the citizens of this
country. Access to relevant information is perhaps only the beginning of a long road towards
ensuring accountability. The first step was taken by the Sheila Dikshit Government in the state of
Delhi with the decision to ‘open up’ a system built and strengthened on ‘secrecy’ through the
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passage of the Delhi Right to Information Act 2001. Delhi is perhaps the only city where citizens
were given the right to access information on government works without protest demonstrations,
and hunger strikes. The Head of State personally pushed for the inclusion of the penalty clause in
the Act for punishing defaulting government officers.
The ISST project wanted to take advantage and maximise the possibility of benefiting from the
enabling environment provided by the state government to extend the participatory democracy
model to the urban slums of Delhi. Public accountability to the poor must necessarily be
negotiated at the local level through local groups. According to the Slum and JJ (Jhuggi-
Jhonpri)5 Department roughly 40 per cent of the total population of 13.78 million in Delhi live in
slums and sub-standard settlements. The participatory governance model 6 has largely
circumvented this population.
In this context the Delhi Governments initiative of participatory governance coupled with its
Right to Information Act was successful in bringing relevant information to the local groups and
seeking their cooperation to solve local problems. The initiative sought to engage and involve
ordinary citizens in the governance of their city. Attempts were and are being made to
communicate and instil through the Delhi Governments participatory governance measures a
feeling of belonging that all citizens must feel towards their locality and their city.
Most of these measures, however, though fairly accessible are designed to address the more
affluent communities in Delhi. The participatory governance model has very little effect in poor
communities and is in fact absent from such communities.
ISST’s approach towards implementing the project - ‘Ensuring public accountability
through community action’ was to attempt to fill this gap in administering accountability at
the local slum level. ISST proposed to act as a mediator/catalyst agency to bring together
the local groups and the service providers to get the process started. ISST field workers
having individually dealt with grievances related to service delivery – whether it was ration
food grains, water, sanitation or community toilet blocks – felt that the issues that required
immediate action and attention were in fact being ignored and often avoided. Aiming to
facilitate necessary action to improve service delivery mechanisms for poor slum
communities, ISST took on the challenging task of bringing the two groups - people and
government agents, who had never had the chance to interact on to a common platform.
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Basic assumptions for the project
1. Presence of an NGO would facilitate and ensure relative ease of community mobilising in
areas where the project was to be implemented.
2. Representation and dialogue would be possible at different levels – at slum levels and at
levels of city administration and in between - with government officials at varying levels of
seniority participating
3. Actors/process in the dialogue could be similar to that in middle class colonies where the
interaction is between government, RWA7 and NGOs (Bhagidari).
4. Issues identified as basic needs (sanitation, water, and sewerage) could be the point around
which organising and dialogue takes place.
Part II - Report
Context
Delhi is governed through three types of governing mechanisms – the Union, the State and the
Municipal Governments. Before granting of statehood, authority for most municipal issues was
vested in the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and others appointed by the Union Government. On 24th
December 1987, the Government of India appointed the “Sarkaria Committee” (later on called
“Balakrishnan Committee”) to go into the various issues connected with the administration of the
Union Territory of Delhi and to recommend measures for streamlining the administrative set up.
The Committee submitted its report on 14th December 1989. In accordance with the
recommendations of the Balakrishnan Committee, the Parliament passed the Constitution (69th
Amendment) Act, 1991 which inserted the new Articles 239 AA and 239 AB in the Constitution
providing, inter alia, for a Legislative Assembly for Delhi8. In 1994, a Constitutional amendment
provided the legal framework for establishing legislative bodies for each Indian metropolitan area
and the devolution of power from appointed to elected representatives9. Currently the city-state of
Delhi is represented by a Cabinet and Chief Minister who are chosen based on the party’s
representation in the legislative assembly of 70. There are also three municipal corporations and 7
Delhi Ministers of Parliament (in the Lok Sabha, lower House of Parliament)10.
Delhi is one of the fastest growing metropolises in India. Along with Delhi's urban growth there
is a simultaneous growth and expansion of the slum population and slum areas. High levels of in-
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migration contributed to the growth of the city, with the net migration during the decade 1991-
2001 estimated at 1.6 million (compared to 0.6 million during 1961-71). The lower income
migrants are distributed all over the city in numerous slum clusters.
Table 1. State wise Migration into Delhi, 1981-91
State Percentage of
migration (%)
State Percentage of migration
(%)
Uttar Pradesh 49.91 Madhya Pradesh 2.71
Haryana 11.82 Kerala 6.61
Bihar 10.99 Tamil Nadu 1.56
Rajasthan 6.17 Maharashtra 1.48
Punjab 5.43 Himachal Pradesh 1.45
West Bengal 2.79 Others 4.08
Source: Census of India, 1991
According to the 2001 Census, the population of Delhi was 13.8 million. As per Census of India
(2001), which estimates slum population in 14 ‘large towns’ (those with a population of 50,
000+) in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi it is 18.45 per cent of the population in
these cities. Based on the estimates of population in slums and resettlement colonies, the same
however works out at around 28 per cent (Government of Delhi, 2002) 11.
With such a sizeable population of the city living in slums, the general positive picture that
emerges for Delhi when compared with the other states of India in terms of different economic
indicators is belied. Most of the slum population has access to irregular and low- paying
livelihood options and is subject to abject poverty. For example, the percentage of population
below the poverty line (BPL) is around 8 per cent corresponding to the All India figure of 26 per
cent (Government of Delhi, 2002). The same percent for the slum population is however closer to
the All India estimate12. Similarly, Delhi ranks as the third state in terms of per capita income; at
1993-94 prices it is estimated at Rs. 24, 450 for 2001, but the same for the slum population is
much lower (Banerji 2004).
The emergence of slum housing in Delhi gained momentum in the years immediately following
India’s independence in 1947. With the partition of British India the refugee influx inflated the
population from 0.7 million in 1941 to 1.43 million in 1948. Natural increase and large scale
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economic migration over the last half of the century has led to an estimated population of 12.5
million in the year 200013. While Delhi’s total population rose six-fold between 1951 and 1992,
the slum population rose more than 20 times. 259 thousand Delhi households lived in “slum”
dwellings in 199214.
Since the first Five Year Plan of 1951, the Indian government has seen the emergence of slums as
a problem and not as a solution to the dearth of low-income housing. As a result, they have
emphasised slum clearance and resettlement over a policy of community improvements15. These
policies have been aggressively pursued in the city of Delhi16 , most infamously during the
“Emergency” of 1975-77.
These resettlement drives have not seen successful execution due to several problems. Firstly, the
resettlement colonies were located away from places of work and became undesirable and costly
for most slum dwellers. Secondly, resettlement also caused extreme disruption of community
structures17. Not surprisingly these slum clearance schemes met with strong resistance on the part
of slum communities, even when the government claimed and believed it was providing the poor
with better housing and better habitable environments. Even today, 25 years later, almost all
resettlement colonies lack access to adequate drainage, drinking water, sanitation facilities and,
medical health centres.
The location of Delhi slums today still reflects India’s colonial inheritance. Even today
resettlement colonies are located at the periphery of the city – allowed to exist so long as they do
not interfere with the development of a ‘clean city’ – while formal government remains focused
in Lutyen’s Delhi in the centre of the city. Slums on the other hand are found in hidden pockets in
the North, near housing and residential areas in the East and closer to employment opportunities
in South Delhi.
Development in Delhi is linked to four different periods. These are pre-colonial (before 1911),
pre-independence (1911-47), post independence (1947-61) and the Master Plan period (1961-
81)18. It has been argued that an important reason for the growth of slums in Delhi is the Master
Plan formulated for the city. While the objective of the Plan is "elimination of slums and
squatting and provision of adequate housing and related community facilities", it failed to make
adequate provisions to achieve this objective. The Master Plan is based on an elaborate idea of
"zoning" where land is segregated as residential, commercial and industrial. The industrial zones
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however do not have any provision to house workers who need to work in these industrial zones
(Aditya Nigam, Dislocating Delhi: A City of 1990s, Sarai Reader, 2001).
On the other hand, provision in the Master Plan that could have provided housing to the poor
migrating into the city has been ignored. The Master Plan envisioned provisions for low income
housing at three levels 19. The city level provisions stated a requirement of 2 lakh Economically
Weaker Sections (EWS) plots and 49,000 slum housing units by 200120, but the civic authorities
have failed to provide housing plots to 4 lakh people of EWS as necessitated by the Plan (Down
to Earth, 15th May 2004). According to another estimate, of the 16.2 lakh residential units that the
Delhi Development Authority had to build between 1982 and 2001, it has built only 10 lakh units
(this includes units built before 1982 or in the resettlement colonies).21
The rapid expansion of Delhi as a city has raised a series of socio-economic and development
related dilemmas22. While on the one hand the city is growing (hastily) in order to meet the
increasing demands of the moneyed class, simultaneously questions related to shelter, access, and
use of space within the city and the increasing neglect of the poor pose tremendous challenges.
While there is evidence of neglect and apathy on behalf of the government and society, the
solutions or redressal of problems for the poor inadvertently end up harming the poor more than
facilitating their rehabilitation without further violation of their basic (human) rights.
The Actors
In order to be effective the project sought to engage the involvement of four main actors – the
slum residents, the government agencies, the local NGOs and the political representatives.
§ The Slum Residents- in Delhi there are 7 types of slums - Legally Notified Slum Areas;
Jhuggi-Jhonpri Clusters (JJ Clusters); Unauthorised Colonies and Harijan Bastis; Urban
villages; Pavement Dwellers; Resettlement Colonies; Regularised Unauthorised Colonies. Each
category on the basis of its characteristics and legal status is entitled (or not) to basic services23.
These slums are inhabited by migrants – those that came as refugees in the post independence
period and also as migrants from rural areas in search of work.
The project work was initiated in the East Delhi slums. For the purpose of the project
three different settlement types were chosen - A jhuggi jhonpri cluster, a Harijan basti
and one resettlement colony. East district of Delhi is home to the first resettlement
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colonies. This district is also characterised by a large number of slum pockets. The
residents of these slums initially worked as construction labourers for group housing
society cooperatives. Many residents are now employed as watchmen, domestic
attendants or drivers in the same housing societies.
§ The Government – The city state of Delhi is governed by three different government
agencies – Union, State and Municipal. The state government is represented by a Chief
Minister and Cabinet Ministers. There are 70 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and 7
Ministers of Parliament. Besides the MLA there are Municipal councillors who are elected at
the city ward level – there are 2 councillors and one MLA in each ward.
Resources available with governing agencies
Each MLA gets a development fund of Rs. 1 crore 90 lakhs to carry out development work in
his/her area. Each councillor gets a JJ development fund of Rs. 70 lakh. Unlike the MLA who
receives the funds in hand the Councillor can merely recommend to the concerned department
that they carry out a particular development work in a slum area and bear costs out of his/her
fund.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is in-charge of providing basic services like sanitation,
roads, and other development works to 93 per cent of city. The MCD is an autonomous body with
a separate Council and Mayor and is headed by a Commissioner. The MCD is further divided into
three separate bodies the New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC), MCD Slum & JJ and the
MCD CSE24. The NDMC looks after basic service provisions for the central Delhi area, where the
government representatives and bureaucrats reside, the MCD Slum & JJ is in-charge of basic
service provisions for the resettlement and slum areas. The MCD CSE is in-charge of the
sanitation provisions for the city. The NDMC and the MCD meet their financial resource needs
from the Central government. The NDMC area constitutes 7 per cent of the city and comes under
the Ministry of Home Affairs (GOI); the MCD has its own resource generations means as well as
receives funds from the Central and State governments.
There are autonomous bodies that take care of service provisions within the state such as the
Delhi Jal Board25 (DJB); the DJB was constituted through an Act of the Delhi Legislative
Assembly in 1998. It is the body in-charge of meeting the water requirements of the city. The
Chief Minister of Delhi heads this body. The other autonomous body is the Delhi State Industrial
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Development Corporation Ltd. (DSIDC). It was established in 1971 to aid, counsel, assist,
finance and promotes interests of industries in Delhi.
§ Non governmental Organisation – there are several NGOs currently active within the city
of Delhi. These NGOs are working on a series of community development projects, women
and child welfare, health, sanitation, education, public awareness and other informal worker
issues. The NGOs are aided financially through a variety of sources, foreign donors, UN
development agencies, Central and State governments, and a few secular foundations. Since
the project work involved direct interaction with the slum residents, the NGOs were perceived
as the right choice to enter and interact within slum clusters. Several NGOs within Delhi adopt
slums clusters and carry out their activities from within the clusters. Often these NGOs develop
an understanding with slum residents and were the obvious choice for initiating discussions
within slums.
§ The Politicians – The issue of slums in Delhi is closely associated with political
representation. The poor in slums are the most accessible vote banks that a large part of the
city’s politicians rely on. In exchange for votes the slum residents receive piece meal basic
service arrangements. The emergence and survival of slums in Delhi goes back to the days of
the Emergency in the 1970s. A period where lakhs of people were brought into Delhi and
settled in numerous clusters that first went by the ubiquitous name of JJ colonies and then
bloomed all over the city. Several Sanjay and Indira Nagar colonies26 (with Nehru, Rajiv, and
now Sonia camps added to the list).
As a result of this patronage enjoyed by the slums from politicians, from time to time the slum
clusters have indeed developed an interesting and sometimes useful networking source for
attaining services and small favours for employment. The slum clusters nominate an informal
institutional head called the pradhan (an informal leader). S/he is the link between the cluster
residents and the government. Usually these pradhans are affiliated to one or the other political
party. The bargaining for services for the poor is carried out through the medium of the pradhan,
or the MLA/municipal councillor. These three are active agents in determining the un-recognised/
temporary supply of services to their vote bank.
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Part III
Project Approach The Project proposed to take a two pronged approach:
1. The first was to identify and work in participation with slum communities towards achieving
a collective model of organising and addressing felt needs related to civic amenities and gaps
in service delivery.
2. The second and extremely crucial attempt to enable the involvement of local area NGOs to
work in cooperation with the slum communities and the local political as well as municipal
representatives towards realising the tripartite model of achieving accountability in making
services work for the urban poor.
Methods applied
The research methodology applied tools of qualitative research. The methods applied under the
project were participatory in nature. This was done keeping in mind that experiences from the
field would help formulate an understanding of the feasibility of the participatory approach. The
participatory tools applied were –
§ Interactive observation exercise to document the nature of service provisions in slums
prior to mobilisation of groups
§ Roundtable discussions with NGOs and Community representatives and the Government
§ Interactive workshops with NGO and local groups
§ Area level workshops with local groups
§ Focus group discussions with selected slum clusters
§ Participatory learning and action exercise with selected resettlement colony
Introductory workshop to the Project
Prior to the introductory workshop ISST visited three NGOs, two in South Delhi
and one in East Delhi to gather basic understanding on the feasibility of
implementing such a project from the point of view of NGOs. The visits were made
to field sites where the NGOs were active as well as to the main offices of the NGOs.
The ISST staff interacted with both the field workers and the senior level
programme officers and Directors of these Institutes. The initial reactions and
18
responses to such a project were very positive. The representatives spoken to
exhibited enthusiasm and a need for such an intervention. See Annex 1. Brief
description of the areas visited as part of the preliminary observation exercise.
In August 2003, ISST organised a one-day interactive workshop that was attended by 12 NGOs
from all over the city. Secretary Renu Sharma and two other representatives of the Bhagidari
(Participatory Governance) Cell of the Delhi State Government also attended the workshop.
The aim of the workshop was to identify potential NGO partners in each of the 9 districts of
Delhi. This was also an attempt to get an idea of the level of interest that would materialise on
behalf of the NGO sector for any experiment in participatory governance at the slum level. After
the workshop it was decided that it would be best to begin with the East district since NGOs
expressed considerable interest in the target area. The project implementation began with a
preliminary observation exercise in 16 slum communities of East district Delhi. Out of 35 NGOs
invited for a first introductory workshop in August 2003 only 11 attended the workshop. Out of
the 11 only 5, communicated their willingness to ISST to participate in the project. Out of 5 only
two were selected as partners in implementing the project. See also Profiles of Implementing
partner NGOs under the Project (East Delhi), Annex 3.
Municipal Corporation of Delhi Zonal set up
Ensuring public accountability through community action was proposed to be implemented in 9
districts of Delhi - North, North-west, North-east, Central, East, New Delhi, West, South and
South-west. Each district has one Deputy Commissioner with three offices of the sub-divisional
magistrate within the district. However, these 9 districts have been further categorised into zones
by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The MCD has jurisdiction over almost the entire
capital territory. There are 12 zones of the MCD. In each zone the Deputy Commissioner is the
highest authority for the zone and deals with the local area problems.
19
The present relationship between the MCD and the Delhi Government is somewhat unformulated.
The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 was enacted without provision for a Legislative
Assembly in Delhi, which was constituted only in 1992-93. Delhi Government’s functions vis-à-
vis the MCD are limited, those of a paramount nature are reserved for the Central Government for
exercise through the Lt. Governor. The MCD, as a potent third force is itself a centre of power in
the affairs of Delhi. Independent of Delhi Government and MCD, NDMC performs municipal
functions in the core area of New Delhi, where the Government of India’s main functionaries
work and reside. NDMC functions more as an administrative set up under the Ministry of Home
Affairs through the Lt. Governor, Delhi. Delhi Government has hardly any role in its
functioning27.
Project Area
East Distric t of Delhi stretches over an area of 364 sq.km with a population of 1.448770
Million28. The district is also home to the first resettlement colonies, which were resettled from
the former squatter settlements in central and old Delhi regions during the time of the emergency
in 1975. A large number of these colonies are located at the periphery of the city (and constitute
part of the national capital territory (NCT). East Delhi in the past and even today has been
characterised by a significant growth in housing to meet the demands of the upwardly mobile
20
middle class. The area is preferred for its affordable housing through the cooperative housing
societies, where flats are available at much more reasonable rate than the South or New Delhi
districts.
This area is also marked with several pockets of slum and substandard settlements. The residents
of these slums initially worked as construction labour for the housing societies and a few are
currently employed here in diverse capacities. The project was initiated in the East district of
Delhi, in the MCD Shahdara-South and Shahdara-North Zones. For a brief description of the
areas visited see Annex 1.
Preliminary observation exercise
The project implementation in these areas began with a preliminary observation exercise. The
exercise was carried out in 16 slum clusters of East Delhi. The information was collected through
door-to-door inquiries and also through informal conversational interviews. Key informants both
male and female were identified for further reference purposes. The purpose was to build an
understanding of the physical characteristics of the slums as well as document the availability or
non-availability of civic amenities for the slum dwellers of that particular area. Another important
component of the preliminary observation was to identify existing and active community based
groups, the willingness of the community to mobilise and their responsiveness towards finding
solutions to their problems by applying the model of collective action.
The exercise was also carried out to identify the various development indicators (Table 2) that the
NGOs in the area were working on. This was done to build an understanding of the level of
involvement that NGOs of the area would be willing to bring to the project. Three broad
indicators that emerged were health and sanitation, education, and self help groups/women’s
collectives. The observation findings also revealed the levels of reliance of slum dwellers on
public or private service alternatives with regard to sanitation, garbage collection (Table 3 & 4),
electricity (Table 6), and the number of toilet seats available in community toilet blocks (Table
5).
21
Table 2
Development Indicators NGO Slum Cluster Population
Health &Sanitation 5 5 23,450
Education 6 10 57,500
Self Help Groups/Women’s collectives
4 6 25,400
Source: ISST
Table 3
Sweepers Slum Cluster
Private >3 2
Public 1-3 11
Not available 3
Total 16 Source: ISST
Table 4 Garbage collection Points Slum Cluster
0 13
2 2
3 1
Total 16 Source: ISST
Table 5 Number of People
per toilet seat Slum Communities Bathing units Slum Cluster
0-20 6 With bathing units 5
20-5- 6 Without bathing units 11
50+ 4 - -
Total 16 Total 16 Source: ISST
22
Table 6 Electricity Slum communities
Meters29 2
Unrecognised Paid connections 30 14
Total 16 Source: ISST
The observation findings also drew attention to the significance of the size of a slum cluster and
the implication thereof on mobilisation capacity. It was observed that slums with approximately
250-350 households, such as Harijan Basti and Rajiv JJ camp were prone to mobilise faster than
larger clusters with approximately 1,500 households or more. Smaller clusters were quicker to
organise and more responsive to group based or community based addressing of needs and
working out solutions than larger clusters.
The informal institutional governance mechanisms were also highlighted during the preliminary
observation exercise. This helped to draw attention to the distinct models of community
mobilisation currently active in slum clusters.
§ The first is the commonly found leader led model, where an informal institutional head
called the ‘pradhan’ often represents the community before the Minister of Parliament (MP),
Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) or the Municipal councillor.
§ The second model that emerged was that of a Community Based Organisation (CBO)
coming together and selecting a leader and
§ The third was of the CBO and its direct involvement with the community. These three
different models helped in building an understanding of the networking and alliance formation
processes that slum dwellers utilise and rely on (especially in crisis situations).
Slums and their Inhabitants
Slums have been defined in the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act 1956 as places
‘unfit for human habitation’ due to lack of proper housing, sanitation, lack of ventilation and lack
of proper infrastructural facilities. Besides the poor quality of housing and the most unsanitary
conditions slums are characterised as areas populated by poor, dirty, degraded people with a
squalid and wretched quality of life.
23
The inhabitants of informal and squatter settlements are principally migrants from neighbouring
states who come to Delhi primarily to meet their basic subsistence needs. Delhi receives
maximum in-migrants from the northern states of India, especially from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,
Rajasthan and Bihar. As a result, the maximum slum population of Delhi comprises of people
from these states. The neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana accounted for
more than 80 per cent of migration to Delhi, while 12 per cent came from Bihar and the
remaining 8 per cent from other states (Census of India 1991- 2001). See also Table 1. State wise
Migration into Delhi, 1981-91
However, in recent years there has been a growth in in-migrants from other states across the
country. Structured information regarding the socio-economic background of the 1.6 million
people who migrated to the city during the last decade (1991-2001) is not available yet. Nearly 62
per cent of the growth of population of Delhi during the past four decades (6.89 million) was due
to natural increase (this includes the natural growth of the migrant population) and 38 per cent
(3.24 million) due to net in-migration. Although the relative contribution of in-migration to this
growth has declined, the absolute number of migrants has increased over the years. As per the
latest study, nearly two hundred thousand people are migrating to the city every year in search of
livelihood (Chakrabarti 2002).
Table 7 : Contribution to natural growth and net migration to the total population
growth of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, 1971-2001
Intercensal period Average annual rate
of growth (%) Average annual rate of natural growth (%)
Average annual rate of net migration (%)
1971-81 4.34 2.11 2.23 1981-91 4.24 2.13 2.11 1991-2001* 3.88 1.70 2.18 *Provisional results Source: Census of India and Sample Registration System
24
Table 8 : Estimates of Migration - Delhi (in lakhs)
Year Population as on 1st July
Increase in Population over Previous year
Total Birth
Total Death
Natural increase (col.4 minus col.5)
Increase due to migration (col.3 minus col.6)
Ration (Natural vs migration)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1991 95.60 3.89 2.72 0.61 2.11 1.78 1:0.84
1992 99.89 4.29 2.74 0.62 2.12 2.17 1:1.02
1993 104.38 4.49 2.70 0.64 2.06 2.43 1:1.18
1994 109.07 4.69 2.76 0.68 1.94 2.75 1:1.42
1995 113.97 4.90 2.75 0.69 2.06 2.84 1:1.38
1996 119.15 5.18 2.83 0.76 2.07 3.11 1:1.50
1997 124.70 5.55 2.89 0.71 2.18 3.37 1:1.55
Source: 1. Population - Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
2. Annual Report 1997 on registration of Births &Deaths, Dept. of Eco. & Stat. Govt. of NCT of Delhi31
The population of Delhi increased from 0.63 million in 1931 to about 13.8 million by the time of
the 2001 Population census. Delhi attracted people from all over India because of its central
position in trade, commerce and the lure of better employment opportunities. The 1991 Census
data on ‘reasons for migration’ indicate that 81.56 per cent of the migrants came to the city in
search of employment. Rapid urbanisation and growth due to industrialisation has not benefited
everybody in Delhi equally. A large section of the population stays in slums or jhuggi jhonpri
clusters, under miserable living conditions.
One of the factors responsible for the growth of slums in Delhi is the influx of agricultural labour
to the city due to lack of growth in the agricultural sector together with poverty and conflict in
their region of origin. Lack of skill and technical expertise makes it difficult for these migrants to
find employment. If they do mange to find work it is usually in the informal sector which pays
less and often requires the worker to travel long distances from his/her house. Unable to make
ends meet the first choice of habitat is a makeshift arrangement close to the workplace.
Lack of housing for the poor is also one of the major factors leading to the growth of slums. In
spite of provisions for low income housing in the Delhi Master Plan (1961-81 which was
extended to 2001 - with city level, area level and even site level provisions), a majority of the low
25
income groups in Delhi are compelled to divert half or more than half their earning to acquire
houses or find accommodation in squatter settlements. Many prefer to buy their own jhuggis in an
established cluster where they might have friends or family, with one jhuggi no more than 18 sq
yards in size costing anything from 10,000-12,000 Indian rupees.
The demographic profiles of the migrants suggest a pattern in migration. First the adult male
members of the family migrate to the city and after two-three years the family follows. Usually
parents leave their children (especially girls) behind in the care of in-laws and grandparents. Both
husband and wife then work in the city to send money back to the village to support the upkeep of
their children. A typical migrant family would influence other family members and friends to
migrate to the city in hope of finding gainful employment. The percentage of the adult population
migrating to the city is largely illiterate. Female illiteracy in particular is much higher as
compared to male. The 1991 Census indicates 1.84 per cent migration rate for education
purposes.
Table 9 : Education levels of adult migrants to Delhi
Migrants Illiteracy Primary level Middle and High
school Level
Continuing
Education
Adult 71.2 % 20.3 % 3.1 5.4 %
Male 51 % - - -
Female 83.4 % - - -
Source: Chakrabarti 2002
Part IV
Interaction and Dialogue Building Process First roundtable discussion
On March 18, 2004 a round table discussion was organised under the project Ensuring Public
Accountability through Community Action. The discussion was based on the findings of the
preliminary observation conducted in 16 slum communities of East Delhi by ISST. Members of 7
NGOs and their community representatives and one Government official form the DJB attended
the discussion. The purpose of the meeting was to develop linkages with NGOs in the East Delhi
region, to initiate an interaction process with the community representatives and to understand
26
their level of participation within their communities. The discussion also addressed a crucial
element of design and formulation of strategies to strengthen community based leadership
qualities and indicate how such development could prove beneficial in any attempt to establish
accountability and transparency in service delivery for the urban poor.
The following issues were brought forward for discussion (see also Table 2 – 6):
§ The current situation pertaining to health and sanitation in East Delhi.
§ The inadequacy of basic services as per the local needs.
§ The difference between the inside and the outside scenario of homes in slum communities
with regard to hygiene and sanitation.
§ Levels of community leadership and their procedures of action.
§ Local community representatives or groups sharing their experiences with respect to service
delivery within their area with respect to drinking water supply, health, sanitation and
presence of and use of toilets provided by government bodies.
§ The question of rights-based approaches as well as duty-based approaches both on the part of
service providers (i.e. Government) and the beneficiaries (Slum dwellers) to establish
accountability.
§ The importance of information and the exercise of the Delhi Right to Information Act to
utilise government led-efforts to counter corruption and inefficiency in governance.
Health & Sanitation situation in East Delhi slums
Status of services in Unauthorised JJ
clusters/resettlement colonies
Inside / Outside scenario within these
clusters
Basic services such as toilets, drainage, garbage
collection points, electricity, water supply, sewers-
Inadequate as per the requirement
Inside the homes the residents are very
careful about hygiene and sanitation –
food/water is covered. Houses are clean
and tidy.
Availability of ration; working of the targeted
public distribution System (TPDS) –
Dysfunctional.
Hospital and dispensaries – inadequate and ill
equipped to meet the demand.
The lack of basic provisions results in
residents limiting their sense of belonging
to their own space, which they use
regularly.
27
Based on experience a NGO spokesperson reflected on the significance and relevance of
‘neighbourhood groups’. The groups function as pressure groups and act on problems related to
service delivery. It was suggested that NGOs in consultation with the community could organise
a set number of members and involve those who are committed towards achieving a goal set by
the community. Suggestions were made that through the use of these ‘neighbourhood groups’
pressure can be put on the concerned government department depending on the need of the
community. For example a separate community toilet block for women was obtained through one
such group in Moolchand Basti located on the banks of the Yamuna River32.
It was also highlighted that this experiment with local groups enjoyed a much larger success rate
in resettlement colonies than in slum and JJ clusters as the latter were concerned with issues like
eviction and security of tenure. There was agreement that an area wise strategy be developed for
maximising local group involvement.
With a consensus on utilising the Right to Information as an important tool in
administering accountability it was suggested that ‘information windows’ be formed where
one person can undertake the responsibility of providing information within the
community. This however, proved to be a tremendous challe nge given the high level of
illiteracy in slums. The process of understanding and utilising the Act remained heavily
dependent on the NGO.
6 NGO’s (2 with resettlement colonies and four with JJ clusters) were identified33. The NGO’s
and the clusters identified indicated some sort of community leadership activity within the
clusters. ISST proposed to conduct one area level workshop in each of the clusters of the 6 NGOs
and suggested some guidelines according to which this experiment would be carried forward. It
was proposed that after the area workshops each cluster would be encouraged as a group to
approach its area level government office and document the process. After two months, the
cluster representatives would be provided with a platform to interact with government officials
and present before them a strategy or plan of action that they developed to address hindrances in
service delivery and ask for government participation to carry it forward.
28
Area Workshops
The March 18 discussion resulted in ISST conducting area level workshops to arrive at a plan of
action suitable for a particular settlement type and their area. Area workshops were also organised
to take advantage of the community based groups (table below) and through these groups
introduce the residents of the various clusters to the ideas of collective action and also focus their
attention on the utility of the Delhi Right to Information Act.
Name of NGO or Slum cluster(for a detailed profile of the concerned NGOs, see Annex 3)
Community Based Group
Action India Sabla Sanghs /Women's collectives
RASTA Community Willingness to mobilise
Kanchanpuri basti Presence of Community Based Organisation
Source: ISST
Unfortunately, a few of the slum clusters visited during the preliminary observation exercise were
demolished and its inhabitants evicted from the banks of the Yamuna River. As a result the only
community based organisation where the community had come together and started its collective
action activities was unable to participate after the demolition.
Area Workshop I34
Based on the March 18 discussions, ISST proposed to organise a set of capacity building
workshops in coordination with partner NGOs to build Community Action. The first area
workshop was organised in Rajiv JJ camp on March 25, 2004. This workshop was conducted
keeping in mind that it was an initial interaction with the community members and therefore three
broad categories were outlined for discussion:
1 Strength /Effectiveness of Community based groups
2 Mobilising Community Based Action
3 Right to Information Act, Delhi
A total of 20 residents of Rajiv camp attended the workshop. ISST began by briefly sharing its
observation findings from 16 slum communities in East Delhi on sanitation, hygiene and
availability/non-availability of basic amenities. The purpose of this exercise was to get the people
present to think in terms of their felt needs and share relevant information on the same.
29
ISST learnt during the course of the interaction that the residents of Rajiv JJ Camp wearied with
their applications for redress on the garbage situation in their area going unheard were compelled
to work out the sanitation situation on their own. The residents had hired private cleaners to clean
the mobile toilets; drains were cleaned by the ‘sanitation committee’ consisting of women from
the community. Plans were also underway to construct separate toilets for women. In the summer
of 2003, five women (including the informal institutional head) from Rajiv JJ Camp also took it
upon themselves to get the electricity crisis resolved. They went from one government office to
another and eventually to the Chief Minister; in the process they were even physically assaulted
by goons who tried to dissuade them from taking the matter forward. Through the entire ordeal
several people taunted them and told them to give up. However, finally, electricity supply was
restored to the camp through payments made to the linesmen and since that day, many in Rajiv
camp are ready to repeat the entire collective action process again if necessary!
Viewing the Right to Information Act of Delhi as a useful means to facilitate community based
action and reap maximum benefits from it, four members from Parivartan volunteered to
highlight the importance of the Act. They highlighted the positive outcomes of the particular Act
that has been provided by the Delhi State Government to involve the common man/woman in
playing a significant role in governance. Besides sanitation, hygiene, water and electricity, one of
the most important issues taken up for discussion was the availability of rations through the
public distribution system (PDS). It was felt that in order to demonstrate the workings of the Act
it was best to test it out on examples related to the ration issue. The residents reacted powerfully
to the presentation on the Act and the PDS situation. The residents informed the group that ever
since the TPDS scheme was introduced in Delhi, the people of Rajiv camp had not obtained any
ration on their cards in spite of being the appropriate cardholders/beneficiaries.
ISST also distributed pamphlets (in the local language - Hindi) narrating the success of Right to
Information from other communities in East Delhi. The pamphlets also spoke of the strengths of
community action and community based leadership. The pamphlets narrated examples of single
men/women who had taken up the task of solving community problems on their own. It was
highlighted that, these individuals could not speak of successful outcomes as all of them lacked
the most important factor for maximising success - support of their respective communities.
30
The residents of JJ camp participated in the discussion enthusiastically and expressed an
eagerness to take follow up on the suggestions of building community groups and arriving at
solutions through teamwork. Residents of Rajiv JJ Camp filed 25 applications the following day
on the ration issue under the Right to Information Act of Delhi. A few days later the same
residents went to the Food and Supply Department in the Income Tax Office area and
successfully submitted their applications.
Area Workshop II
The second capacity building workshop was organised with the representatives of Amba
Foundation in Majboor Nagar JJ camp on March 29, 2004. Main points of discussion were the
strengths of collective action and awareness generation based on the Delhi Right to Information
Act.
Approximately 25 people attended the workshop. All the members present were women. The
purpose of the workshop was to get them to think in terms of their felt needs and share relevant
information on the same. The workshop was less successful compared to the other area
workshops, the discussions were quite chaotic and the idea of pressure groups could not be put
across to the participants successfully. Although 25 women gathered for the meeting, as the
discussions progressed numbers gradually dropped and at the end of the meeting only 9 remained.
The few women who spoke did so with their personal needs in mind. The group that came
together seemed to focus on resolving personal vested interests and clearly lacked a feeling of
togetherness.
Those few who were able to articulate their problems could not seem to understand the concept of
group action; in fact it seemed that they had little experience in collective action techniques. Two
main problems were discussed - one pertaining to ration distribution and the second related to
inadequate water supply. The idea that these problems could be addressed more constructively
through group action seemed too abstract to them. Despite efforts to keep the gathering’s
attention, the women began to argue amongst themselves. The main point of contention was why
one person should go and create trouble with a concerned department when her/his house or lane
gets regular water supply. It was apparent that if it was not a personal grievance an individual
would not cooperate with the members of the house two lanes down.
31
The proceedings of the workshop also highlighted the limitations of the NGO and the residents to
communicate and understand the importance of collective action. The residents further seemed to
be divided along their individual problems and no sense of community prevailed.
Overall the workshop did not achieve its desired objective. The women present were not
interested in forming a group to collectively resolve their problems. The group also seemed
politically divided. Each had their own touts within the community who they could approach in
order to get a leaking pipe fixed or a ration card made. Therefore the workshop was concluded
requesting the NGO representatives to maintain a register keeping track of the initiatives taken by
the 7 women who volunteered to go speak with the MLA regarding the water issue.
Area workshop III
The Third area workshop was organised in Harijan Basti in Mandawali. The workshop focused its
attention on Right to Information and once again the main issue that emerged was of distribution
of rations. Field workers from ISST and Parivartan went from door-to-door trying to formulate an
understanding of the ration situation in the Basti. Once a sufficiently large group of people
gathered, Parivartan volunteers addressed the group on the crucial issue of tax collection and how
each citizen irrespective of the economic background pays tax in return for services. The main
idea communicated was that the government is not ‘bestowing any kind of favours’ on the poor
by providing them with subsidised ration. Rather it was the right of every citizen and the duty of
every ration shop owner to ensure that the prescribed quantity and quality of ration is being
received. To illustrate the point further a woman from a resettlement colony in East Delhi,
narrated her experiences related to the use of Right to Information and how by doing so she has
been successful in receiving the proper quantity and quality of ration. At this point the informal
institutional head, the Pradan, also joined the discussion and agreed to extend his full support to
whatever action the cluster as a group decided to take.
ISST also distributed pamphlets (in the local language - Hindi) narrating the success of Right to
Information from other communities in East Delhi. The pamphlets also spoke of the strengths of
community action and community based leadership. Approximately 10-15 individuals filed Right
to Information applications and agreed to meet the next morning to submit the same applications
at the Food and Supply Department at ITO. The workshop was successful in demonstrating to the
people the benefits of the Right to Information Act.
32
Area Workshop IV (a)
The fourth area workshop was organised at New Seemapuri. The discussion was carried out at the
community centre of Action India, an NGO active in the area since 1984. The discussion was
organised with women representatives of the Sabla Sangh (women’s collectives) who reside in
the same colony. These workers are motivated to take up issues pertaining to the welfare of the
community. All the women representatives were articulate, literate and had some experience in
community mobilisation practices. These women had organised a 2 member committee
responsible for public cleanliness in every lane. Though the campaign did not prove successful, it
gave these women an insight into the dynamics of group action and also made them aware of the
problems faced by the government, especially those functioning at the lower rungs.
The crucial issues relevant to this particular area were those pertaining to sewer lines. Many
residents were keen on taking sewer connections but were unable to due to the confusion over
sanction charges for the connections. The workers already aware of the Right to Information
suggested that filing an application under Right to Information would provide clarity to the
situation. The workers also pointed out that in order to access sewer lines, the authorities insisted
that households have water supply connections from DJB From the point of view of the
authorities continuous water supply is a pre-condition for sewer connections to allow proper
disposal of waste. However, New Seemapuri households in spite of a few having connections are
always facing an acute water supply shortage. Due to this many of the residents were relying on
tube wells to meet their daily water requirements. The representatives argued that instead of the
government limiting access of sewer connections to those with legal water supply connections, it
would be better to educate people on the need to flush toilets properly. This could become a point
of discussion between the community and government authorities. Since the purpose of such a
workshop was to meet and discuss issues with the residents of these settlements, a subsequent
meeting was organised a week after with the residents.
Area Workshop IV (b)
The ‘Pratinidhis’ (community representatives) of New Seemapuri attended this area workshop. A
total of 12 members were present. These pratinidhis are residents of the New Seemapuri
Resettlement Colony and have been associated with Action India as field workers for a minimum
of 5 years.
33
The workshop began with a song on women’s rights. The problems of sewers and water
connections and the sanitation and cleanliness situation emerged as the crucial ones. The
representatives narrated their experiences of collective action – they submitted signed
applications to the local MCD office to get the drains cleaned and succeeded in their endeavour.
They were also were successful in encouraging the women of their area to keep the outside of
their houses clean once the MCD sweepers had done their job. They expressed concern over the
appalling sanitary situation. The community toilet blocks were never cleaned. The toilet blocks
were easy to use for men but after sunset if girls wished to use the toilets they had to be
accompanied by elders. They expressed disappointment over the behaviour of sweepers who
continued to be inefficient even after filing several applications in the local area office.
Frustrated by the appalling sanitary conditions of the toilet blocks the women decided to take matters in their own hands. One of the workers narrated how she along with several others locked the community toilet block and dumped heaps of garbage, thus compelling the person in-charge to have the entire toilet block and the surrounding area cleaned. She also managed to drive out the peeping toms and eve teasers who hung around the toilet block waiting to harass young girls who wished to use the toilets.
Fed up with trying to use the community toilet blocks women decided to take sewer connections
and build toilets in their own houses. Unfortunately, the Delhi Jal Board local area office
demanded a payment of 5,200 rupees as mere sanction fee for acquiring a sewer connection.
Aware of the sewer connection charges (rupees 190) they argued with the official but were unable
to convince the officers.
Overall the workshop seemed to provide a clearer understanding of the problems of this particular
settlement type. The pratinidhis seemed eager to address the sewer and sanitation issues. They
said they were willing to interact with the government provided the government took time to
listen to poor people and pay attention to their needs.
Second roundtable discussion
The second round table discussion was organised on April 20, 2004. The aim of the discussion
was to review the experiences of the past month (March-April 2004) with respect to mobilisation
of community groups within each area and the steps taken by these groups to interact with the
local area officials. This discussion was organised to address important issues such as formulation
of a strategy for interaction with government officials, how a group should formulate its problems
34
and present it before the officials and what strategy should be applied to facilitate a dialogue
between the two parties.
The focus of the workshop was to reflect on the action taken by the various residents of the
resettlement colonies and JJ clusters. The idea was to encourage the residents to come forward
and identify the problems faced by their communities as well as to share experiences with regard
to any kind of interaction with local officials in relation to the problems identified. Each group
was allotted a time of 15-20 minutes to present their problems and share experiences.
Members from 6 NGOs participated in the workshop. Mr. Ashok Kumar from A.V Baliga
Memorial Trust, a Delhi-based NGO, as well as two representatives from SEWA Ahmedabad
were the experts invited to share their experiences with mobilising/motivating members of slum
communities to form Community Based Organisations (CBOs).
The following were the problems that emerged from the discussion:
• Inadequate and poor quality of drinking water (this problem was discussed keeping in mind
the overall shortage of water in Delhi)
• Lack of proper drainage facilities within slum communities and resettlement colonies
• Electricity - connection and usage within slum communities and resettlement colonies
• Sewer - Connections and facilities within resettlement colonies
• Toilets - erratic arrangement with regard to maintenance and indecent behaviour by male
members who use the toilet complex as a pretext for eve-teasing adolescent girls and young
women within slum communities and resettlement colonies.
• Failure/inadequacy of normal grievance applications to redress the situations.
The discussion was centred on the importance and significance of Community Based
Organisations. Representatives from SEWA spoke briefly about the 'Parivartan Programme' under
their Slum Networking Project. Under this programme 32 CBOs in 12 areas are working together
to bring basic infrastructure including water and sanitation in an affordable and sustainable
manner to the slums within Ahmedabad City. SEWA emphasised the need for first and foremost
the formation of CBO's under the ISST proposed project. The SEWA team demonstrated the
importance and advantage of community based organisation in dialogue building and formation
of linkages to address community based needs. They highlighted the case of CBO's under their
slum networking project, working together in collaboration with the Ahmedabad Municipal
35
Corporation (AMC) in a unique partnership. The CBO's consist of representatives from within the
community. These representatives are trained to coordinate all activities with the AMC. As a
result of the success of this CBO involvement in the programme, 2 CBO members from SEWA
are now members of a Committee on a State Level Slum Policy. These members provide the
Committee with useful insights on the do’s and don'ts of slum relocation and sustainable urban
management through partnerships with the wider civil society of the city.
Prof. Swapna Mukhopadyay35 drew a comparison between the single and multiple government
agency factors between the two cities of Ahmedabad and Delhi. While it is relatively easier for
SEWA to work in close cooperation with the AMC, in Delhi we often face the problem of having
to interact with several agencies (NDMC, MCD, DDA, PWD, MCD Slum & JJ, Delhi State
Government, and Central Government). She highlighted this multiple agency factor as one of the
complex features of working in Delhi. At the same time she emphasised that formation of CBO’s
is one of the useful and constructive tools of communicating the needs and requirements of slum
dwellers to the government. It is a long drawn process but it must be initia ted across the city of
Delhi.
The representatives of SEWA suggested that under the ISST proposed project it would be
appropriate to include one or two areas where CBOs or groups of community people already
existed. Based on the interaction levels of the residents from the area workshops and with
everyone's agreement ISST identified two out of six NGOs- RASTA and Action India, to
collaborate as partners on the project in East Delhi (see also Annex 3). It was agreed that the two
organisations would concentrate on strengthening their respective community representatives into
formal groups to identify area specific issues, formulate strategies for collective action and devise
solutions. As and where necessary ISST would supplement with necessary inputs.
It was unanimously decided that the two NGOs would take a month to plan their activities with
direct involvement of the community. Accordingly, these groups would then present their
findings before government officials and initiate an interaction process. The process could
concentrate on how to bring basic amenities in a sustainable and affordable manner to their areas
if they were not currently present and suggest how to effectively maintain those that are.
It was reinforced that since the strength of the project lay in community based action, the other
three NGOs would work with ISST towards building their community groups. ISST expressed
36
the view that the process of ensuring accountability was an on-going one and it got simpler and
efficient if community based groups are developed and equipped with community support and
information. It was suggested that ISST set up an information cell and focus on capacity building
of members of the various groups involved in this process of ensuring accountability.
The participants of the discussion were also asked to express their reactions to the area
workshops conducted by ISST. A few participants reiterated that after the area workshops,
members of the community had actually come forward and expressed an interest in forming
a group where a group did not exist. Within already existing groups the participants said
that after the workshops they had come closer together as a result of the information
disseminated.
Formulating a plan of action
On April 29, 2004, a discussion was organised with the community as well as NGO
representatives of the two selected NGOs to devise a future plan of action. The purpose of the
discussion was to arrive at an area specific action plan. The issues of community toilet block and
sewer connections having been identified, the discussion hoped to achieve some sort of direction
related to the actual workings on the ground and to communicate these needs to the concerned
authorities.
The discussion addressed two main points -
- Mobilising community support to put forward the demands pertaining to basic services and
communicating the importance of group based workings within their respective areas.
- To consider interactions at two levels - one at the level of their community, which needs to be
kept informed through the entire process.
-To formulate strategies to interact with government officials and put forward in a concrete and
direct manner the problems faced, the solutions sought and the cooperation the community is
willing to extend.
ISST reiterated its role as the facilitator or catalyst agency and requested the NGOs in their areas
to think about crucial issues such as their involvement in this community building process. Did
the agenda or activities of the NGO match those being suggested under the project and would the
NGO be willing to collaborate unreservedly? And most importantly, to formulate strategies to
strengthen the group that would take its representation to the concerned authorities.
37
The discussion ended with a unanimous decision to conduct a Focus Group Discussion at Rajiv JJ
camp and A Participatory Learning and Action exercise (PLA) at New Seemapuri to gather more
information on the identified issues and then formulate a plan of action for dialogue with
concerned departments.
Focus Group Discussion Rajiv JJ camp
Given the small size of Rajiv JJ camp a focus group discussion was organised on July 5, 2004 to
gather people’s opinion on the identified issue of the need for a toilet complex within the camp.
15 people participated in the discussion which was facilitated by one member each of RASTA
and ISST. The discussion progressed from a brief dialogue about the history of Rajiv camp (how
it came in to existence) to the main issue under consideration - that of a community toilet
complex. The discussion lasted for an hour, followed by individual interviews with a few
residents.
Rajiv camp is one of the many settlements that came up without any civic amenities like
sewerage/toilet blocks, water and electricity. However, about 5 years ago, Rajiv camp was well
on its way to receiving a toilet block. The then councillor had facilitated the process on the
request and pleas of the residents of Rajiv camp. Unfortunately, politically motivated actions36
and internal disputes37 resulted in the demolition of a half constructed toilet complex!
Emerging Issues
§ Absence of a toilet complex/block - Twenty five years have gone by since Rajiv camp
came into existence. To date there is no permanent toilet structure for a population of
approximately 1,500.
§ Presence of a mobile toilet - There is one mobile toilet that is located at the rear end of
Rajiv camp. Residents who use the toilet pay the cleaner Rs. 30 per month per household
for cleaning it. This toilet is however, inadequate for the population of 1,500. Women and
children very rarely use this toilet.
§ Women & adolescent girls - they make up more than half the population of Rajiv camp
and face the maximum number of problems with regard to using open spaces for
defecation or for bathing. Every household has a minimum of 3 women/girls who have
no privacy and therefore become vulnerable to attacks from mischief mongers or by boys
who hide in the tall grass or even by workers of the BSES38 office who peep from their
38
office roof or window. In retaliation the men of the community have to engage in fights
on a routine basis which sometimes gets ugly.
Using the open space at night becomes particularly dangerous as several children and old women
have fallen into the big open ‘nalla’ (drain) that runs paralle l to Rajiv camp.
§ No provisions for bathing - with no toilet blocks the women in Rajiv camp have to
§ Either mark out a small portion of their 18 yard plots to bath in or use the open space in front
of the taps. This prevents them from taking a bath comfortably, as they have to be
completely dressed to bathe in the open.
§ Excess expenditure - In the absence of toilets, women & children using the open space
inevitable get bitten by insects and sometimes even snakes and this adds to the financial
burden39.
§ Demolished toilet block - As mentioned earlier, a toilet block was being constructed but
was demolished half way through, due to politically motivated actions and internal disputes.
The residents have been trying ever since to get a toilet block constructed again with no
luck.
§ Willingness to mobilise - the community is small in size and therefore easy to mobilise.
§ On several occasions the community has come together as one to solve problems related to
electricity, water, sanitation.
§ Internal differences - while the community has the capacity to mobilise as a collective,
§ There are also internal differences between the informal institutional heads who continue to
bicker amongst themselves. This can sometimes overshadow the entire community’s
willingness. However, this is not a lost case as a few level headed individuals always
manage to highlight the need and the motive behind joint action as the most effective way to
redress grievances.
Suggestions - the residents feel a toilet complex is a must especially for women and girls. If only
a toilet complex can be built they suggest that they can even pay a caretaker to clean and maintain
it. The overall view is that without toilets and bathing rooms the residents of Rajiv camp
especially women and young girls are at risk of physical and bodily harm. People at Rajiv camp
have been denied their basic right to adequate housing for so many years. Work on a toilet
complex which had begun was arbitrarily stopped and ever since the residents have been running
to the MLA. If the residents can not enjoy a decent standard of living it has larger implications on
their overall growth and development.
39
After a meeting with Senior MCD officials in August it became clear that Rajiv JJ camp could
not approach the concerned municipal authorities for a permanent community toilet block. The
Additional Commissioner MCD, informed them that a JJ cluster is legally not entitled to
permanent infrastructure provisions. The local NGO along with ISST organised another
discussion with the local residents to inform them of this development and put forward an
alternative for their consideration. The alternative was experimenting with temporary
arrangements and if those proved successful then to further explore how to make it a permanent
feature (by negotiating with the local municipal councillor and MLA).
It was proposed that since the cluster is located along side a running ‘nalla’ (open drain), small
shacks made of straw mats or cloth can be constructed over the nalla . The meeting organised on
September 16, 2004 discussed the potential viability of such an option. The residents did not
appreciate the idea. They were of the view that nothing short of a permanent structure for a toilet
would work. Children would tear down the temporary structures in half a day and if it rained the
toilet would become unusable. They also raised the important point of organising funds for the
proposed alternative and most importantly who would organise the funds. As a cluster they were
not willing to risk investment on the option placed before them for consideration. They were of
the view that the government must make provision for them if it was a question of legality or
illegality the NGO (ISST) could certainly generate the funds and try out the suggestion.
Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) New Seemapuri
After conducting a series of discussions with the sabla sangh members in March-April 2004,
ISST in collaboration with sabla sangh conducted a PLA exercise from May 24- June 13, 2004.
The primary purpose of the exercise was to capture people’s voice on the identified problems
pertaining to sewerage connection. The ISST-Action India team visited all six blocks lane by lane
to gather people’s opinion on the identified sewerage connection issue. The technical expertise
for conducting the PLA was provided by the Action India staff. The PLA exercise made use of
two techniques for collecting data - the chappati (pie) technique and the 10 seed technique.40 The
first was used to help people identify the most crucial issues that they wanted remedied and rank
them according to priority/need. The second was to gather approximate figures for the number of
sewerage connections taken (authorised or self-acquired), the approximate family size and the
social make-up of the area 41.
40
In 1984 Sewer lines were laid in New Seemapuri. The sewer lines have been worked and
reworked to make them operational between 1984 and 2003. The lines were worked on last in
2003 and in May 2004 we learnt that the lines are choked again.
Emerging issues from the PLA exercise -
Confusion over fee hike - The Rs. 140 sewerage connection sanctioning fee was hiked to Rs.
1,700 without any public announcement or public interest advertisements. There also exists
confusion within government officers over fee hike.
Lack of information and low levels of literacy -low level of education and lack of
information results in the people of D, E & F blocks being conned into paying in excess of
the allotted sanction charges.
Willingness to take collective action - D, E & F blocks are smaller in size with low income
levels as compared to the remaining A, B & C blocks D, E & F blocks expressed a
willingness to mobilise as a group in order to remedy their current situation. The response
from A, B & C blocks varied as many people had acquired connections either through
middlemen paying the overcharged rates or got connections because they could afford to.
Behaviour of government officials - lack of a sensitised outlook towards the problems of the
common person, makes it doubly hard for economically weaker sections of the society to
receive proper guidance from government officials. They are either overcharged or made to
run around, as a result people give up and make temporary arrangements or acquire
connections through ‘other means’.
Legal, Illegal connections & presence of middlemen/touts - In January 2003, the Delhi Jal
Board organised a camp for the New Seemapuri area to help people acquire sewerage
connection sanctions. However, this camp was not adequately publicised and a majority of
the area learnt about it too late and failed to acquire their connections. As a result, they turned
to the touts in the area to acquire their sanctions. For a Rs. 140 sanctioning fee people have
paid anything between Rs. 1000-2000 to the touts and still not received their files or their
sanction receipts. There is an alarming dependence on touts in the area to get hassle free work
done at very high prices.
41
Alternative methods of Payment of road restoration (RR) charges - The residents of New
Seemapuri expressed concern over their inability to make a down payment of Rs. 1,600 RR
charges. They suggested that either the MCD grant them permission to repair their own road
with an undertaking from the residents or allow them to pay the Rs. 1,600 in instalments.
Neighbourhood clashes - Fed up with the erratic supply of water in the New Seemapuri area,
the residents sat on a ‘dharna’ outside the Delhi Jal Board Seemapuri pumping station, the
protest was organised in order to receive if not 24 at least a 6 hour supply of water everyday.
The residents were successful in their efforts, as new pipelines were laid and they were
promised improved water supply. Unfortunately it turned out that the water pipelines laid in
New Seemapuri were in effect supplying water to the neighbouring Dilshad Colony42, besides
which they also learnt that the sewer waste from the same colony was being diverted into the
Seemapuri sewerage lines. As a result, the lines would be choked every few months.
After the PLA was completed a meeting was arranged of individuals from each lane in each
block. These individuals had volunteered to form groups in their blocks and take up the matter
with the concerned municipal officers after formulating an action plan. The purpose of the
meeting was to take a people’s representation to the local DJB office to clarify the issue of
sanction fees for new sewer connections. However, the Executive Engineer for the region had just
been transferred and the replacement had joined two days earlier. The idea was dropped. In stead
it was decided that the same information could be sought through a Right to Information
Application.
Utilising the Right to Information Act
Information acquired through the use of Right to Information from the Delhi Jal Board on July 2,
2004 confirms that the RR charges (included in the new sewerage connection sanction fee) were
hiked from Rs.40 to Rs 1,600 on October 17, 2003. While circulars were circulated amongst
Delhi Jal Board and MCD with regard to collection of RR charges, there seems to be no
indication of any effort made to communicate this to the general public. It has also been specified
that the RR charges can not be paid in instalments as they are road restoration charges and have to
be paid at the time of the sanction of a sewerage connection. MCD has yet to reply to the
application filed in their North Zone office of the Deputy Commissioner. Whether the Rs. 1,600
can be subsidised for the Seemapuri residents can only be decided upon by the MCD as these are
policy changes that require approval from the senior officers and are time consuming.
42
Garbage Segregation at Harijan Basti43
In November 2003 ISST and RASTA in collaboration with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
attempted to implement garbage segregation in selected slum communities of the trans-Yamuna
region. Six communities in the East Delhi were identified to implement the first phase of
awareness generation on garbage collection.
After a series of preliminary meetings with the Commissioner of the MCD, a team of MCD
officers met with the RASTA and ISST staff at ISST’s West Vinod Nagar Office on November
18, 2003. In the meeting Assistant Engineer (CSE) MCD and a representative from the Sociology
Department (MCD) were appointed to keep in touch with the staff of the two NGOs. A list of the
MCD officers present at the meeting was also compiled to allow the NGO representatives to
contact them in case of any difficulty. ISST suggested that given the background of the particular
areas it was best to begin with awareness generation and setting up of adequate garbage disposal
facilities. After working out the details, Joint Director CSE (MCD) suggested that these facilities
could be provided in the identified communities to initiate the garbage collection process before
the team ventured into the segregation process.
A field survey was conducted by the ISST and RASTA staff and the MCD Assistant Engineer to
review the sites and explore the possible options of setting up garbage disposal facilities in those
areas. After the survey, the team began work in one of the Communities - Harijan Basti (Sonia
camp), Mandawali. Here the focus was on two garbage dumps. One was a children’s park
transformed into a dump and the other an open area transformed into a dump.
Due to the imminent state polls work could not begin immediately after the survey was
conducted. On December 23, ISST wrote to the Joint Director CSE, to learn about the status of
installation of dumpsters. Overnight green and blue bins were installed in Harijan Basti and Rajiv
JJ camp. ISST contacted the assistant engineer and discussed the inadequacy of the small bins
that were installed in place of the large dumpsters that were decided on. Between 27-29
December 2003, 8 trucks partly cleared out and levelled one of the dumps in Harijan Basti.
However, this clearing out process also came to an abrupt halt. ISST approached the assistant
engineer and were informed that the ‘JCB’ machine required to pull out a large quantity of waste
would be provided as soon as one of was available. A few weeks later, ISST approached the AE
again and as per the AE’s direction, ISST and RASTA staff spoke to the Joint Director CSE and
43
informed him of the problem. He asked ISST to let his assistant engineer conduct a survey to
determine the quantity of garbage being produced or collected in those dumps before taking
further action.
In January 2004, the local municipal councillor on one of her visits to the community noted the
problem of the garbage dumps in Harijan Basti. She directed her entire sanitation team to be
present and ordered them to be observant and carry out their responsibilities. She also spoke with
the residents of Harijan Basti and asked them to take action if they found anybody dumping waste
into the dumps. She instructed the assistant engineer to start the process of building a ‘dhalao’
(dumping ground) near one of the garbage dumps. The councillor also spoke with garbage
collectors dumping waste in these dumps from various areas (Preet Vihar, West Vinod Nagar,
Mandawali). They said there was no other place to dump the waste, one ‘dhalao’ near Preet Vihar
was locked and they were asked to pay 100 rupees to unload the waste into the dumping house.
The councillor then asked them to identify that dump and decided to take action. In February; she
visited Sonia camp again with a contractor and her assistant engineer to identify a suitable site to
build the dumping house. In March 2004, on a regular field visit the ISST staff noted a group of
men planting tall grass at the back of the dump but they refused to comment on what or on whose
orders they were acting.
Awareness generation activities by ISST
The residents of Sonia camp and the shop owners whose shops are located adjacent to the dumps
were involved in a discussion organised by ISST. They were asked to stop people from dumping
waste into the two dumps. They expressed a keen interest in getting rid of the dumps but the
residents of the camp expressed their inability to prevent people from dumping as the
neighbouring local community (particularly the ‘gujjars’) ignored their requests and dumped
cow-dung. In the face of these constraints the dumps still exist and no further action has been
taken after the partial clearing that took place in December 2003. ISST was told that the assistant
engineer would get back after his team had put together an estimate of the garbage being
generated in the area. ISST has not learnt anything from him to date.
Use of Delhi Right to Information ACT, 2001
Based on continuous pressure by the people of Harijan Basti on the progress of the garbage
removal activity, field workers decided to make use of the Delhi Right to Information Act, 2001.
44
They needed to get a better understanding of the departments involved and to obtain clarity on
which department was responsible for the children’s park. Between February and May 2004, two
applications were submitted, one in the MCD Shahadra south zone office of the Deputy
Commissioner. The second was submitted with the MCD Slum & JJ office. Both at first declined
all responsibility. Two months later the Additional Commissioner along with Deputy Director
Horticulture MCD Shahdara South Zone insisted on a meeting with ISST and visited the area.
After which he informed the ISST team that the garbage problem was the responsibility of CSE
Shahdara South zone but since MCD Slum & JJ had built the boundary wall to the park, MCD
Slum & JJ was responsible for the upkeep of the park. All this was intimated in writing from the
Additional Commissioner’s office The MCD Slum & JJ denies its association with the park and
has mentioned that as far as sanitation is concerned the responsibility lies with MCD CSE!
On August 20, 2004 a discussion was organised with the MCD sanitation wing with members of
ISST, RASTA and Action India. A fie ld visit was organised on August 23, 2004 at Harijan Basti
as a follow up to the discussion with MCD officials from East Delhi. The visit was planned to
assess the sanitation situation and survey the area for installation of dumpsters and to identify a
site for developing a composting pit.
Mid-Project Workshop
A mid-project workshop was organised on May 26, 2004. The aim of the workshop was to assess
the gaps that may have been present, and to identify directions for the future. The focus in this
workshop was on the research component that complements field activities of the project.
The workshop began with an overview to the project followed by a review of basic services in the
slums and resettlement colonies of Delhi followed by ISST’s report from the field activities and
an ISST study on 'Water and Sanitation: Unheard Voices of Women' 44 . The workshop also
incorporated presentations and discussions on the first draft of the two background papers on
‘Local Diplomacy’ and ‘Best Practices’ commissioned under the project.
The workshop drew on other community based initiatives in Delhi in order to incorporate the
positive outcomes and strategies into the on-going project. Experts from a Delhi based NGO on
working environmental issues Toxics Link and from the Society for Development Studies (SDS)
another NGO shared their experiences in Community mobilisation.
45
Dr. Lall of SDS, argued that community action should aim at involving people in the process of
development and not on imposing models. The emphasis should always be on what people want
and the role of NGOs should be that of facilitators. He argued that accountability though
important is not always the priority of the poor instead they accord more importance to
livelihood, services and shelter.
The presentation by Toxic Links was based on a project titled PLUS. One such intervention was
in Govindpuri Transit Camp. The key feature of the project was that it sought to intervene in a
holistic manner and involve all the residents of the slum. The latter was particularly difficult
given the heterogeneous nature of composition of slums in Delhi and division of the slum
residents along lines of caste/class/region. Nevertheless, the project succeeded in bringing people
from different socio-economic groups together. The community was asked to identify key problem
areas and prioritise the need for action as ‘soon’, now’ and ‘later’.
Discussion with Municipal Corporation Senior Officials
On August 20, 2004 ISST along with the two NGO partners RASTA and Action India met with
senior Municipal Corporation officials. The Additional Commissioner MCD was present. The
purpose of the discussion was to bring the problems of the three clusters to the notice of the
government and deliberate over practical solutions. The focus was also to highlight the current
negotiation patterns of the local groups and residents and seek the cooperation of the government
in the three situations of garbage clearance, community toilet blocks, and sewer connections. The
discussion ended with possible directions for resolving the garbage situation at Harijan Basti. In
the case of Rajiv JJ camp the Additional Commissioner reiterated that given the type of
settlement, Rajiv JJ camp could not legally be provided with permanent basic infrastructural
facilities. Regarding the issue of sewers he maintained that the Delhi Jal Board was the concerned
authority. Although the ISST/Action India team tried to explain that the confusion on the issue
pertaining to the sanction fee for sewer connections was directly linked to the MCD road
restoration charges, the officers simply said that the teams should approach the Municipal
Commissioner or the Delhi Jal board.
46
Existing model of interaction between slum and resettlement colony residents and
other government/ political agents
The pattern of negotiation that exists is one that is piece meal and highly influenced by vote-bank
politics. Each MLA can legally only serve the purpose of a member of the state Legislative
Assembly and represent his/her constituency’s demands. S/he is the communication bridge
between service providers and the residents of his/her area. S/he has the capacity to raise issues in
the state legislative assembly on behalf of area residents and carry out referral work for area
residents – like attesting application for birth certificates, ration cards, old age pension etc or
submitting written demands on behalf of his constituency. However, illegally he has been
provided additional powers where he/she openly interferes with day-today functioning of
government officers. He/she makes arrangements for awarding contracts for development
works to people that are known to him, diverting resources from a poor cluster to an
affluent one simply because they are in a position to contribute to his/her election fund.
Given the unclear nature of entitlements for slum residents – this illegal exercise of power is
also utilised by slum residents to negotiate for some services in exchange for their votes. The
councillor on the other hand is not viewed in the same light or approached with such ease, as s/he
has no control over the development funds. The councillor fund remains with the MCD and
senior level officers decide whether particular development work for a slum cluster can be
sanctioned or not.
NGO
Direct link Direct link
No interaction
Welfare activities Political association
Elected representatives –MLA/Councillor
Slum/Resettle -ment colony
residents
Delhi State Government Officials of Public Utility departments
47
Part V
Analysing the interaction/dialogue building process
The long-term viability of action led research projects is always uncertain. Essential to such
projects is a level of active participation, level of organisation among participants and
mobilisation of resources45. Under the IDRC supported ISST project the focus area was urban
slums within the city of Delhi. Mainly migrant populations, characterised by inadequate civic
amenities inhabit slums. The project attempted to address the systemic failures for inadequacies
in service delivery through the mobilisation of local groups as well as local NGOs.
Since the project was designed keeping in mind participation on three broad fronts – the NGOs,
the Government and the local community, it was necessary that all three parties be involved from
the very beginning. Although the project strategy was to focus on mobilising the local
communities it was understood that one of the vital players in the process would certainly be
NGOs as they would play the mediating role between local area officials and local communities.
One of the most important points highlighted by one of the NGO staff was the inability to
organise NGOs to work together. One of the NGOs in south Delhi, working primarily on health
and sanitation issues intended to work together with other NGOs in their area. They suggested
that each NGO pull their expertise, on health issues and experience with CBOs to better utilise
time and human resources to address the identified needs of the local residents from their area.
The response from other NGOs was not positive. The NGOs saw this as a move on the part of a
larger and more established NGO to take over their working space and push them out and refused
to collaborate. While the same NGO that had attempted a similar participation at their local area
level they were not keen to participate on the project and similarly refused the invitation to the
introductory workshop organised by ISST. See also Profiles of Implementing partner NGOs
under the Project (East Delhi), Annex 3.
Analysis of the interaction and dialogue building with NGOs
Under the project the dialogue building and interaction process was carried out at two levels - the
local NGO and the slum clusters level. The processes provided important insights into the
dynamics of negotiation patterns, the notion of community in Delhi slums, objectives and
48
priorities of NGOs and the divide between what slum residents ‘want’ and what the NGOs
think they ‘need.’
Interaction with local NGOs
There are numerous NGOs in Delhi working on several human development issues. Community
Development is one of the most important objectives of all grassroots NGOs. In Delhi,
community development for NGOs incorporates a number of support based activities such as
education, awareness generation; self help groups (SHG) and micro credit, health and legal aid
and counselling. Not all NGOs are focusing on all the activities but common over a large number
of organisations are education, SHGs and health & sanitation.
Under the project one of the main activities was establishing linkages with grassroots level NGOs
working in Delhi slums. However, this proved to be difficult as the participatory approach toward
addressing service delivery gaps for urban slums was consider time consuming and not a skilled
task involving building capacities and capabilities of communities for many NGOs. Their
contribution was limited to sharing of relevant information such as a brief background of their
organisation; their experiences from the field, background of their area of work, statistical
information on the slum population, service provisions in their slums and socio-economic
background of the residents of the slums.
The project at the very outset had made it clear that it would take a partnership approach in
developing and formulating strategies for collective action and the local NGO would be the actual
instrument facilitating the process in their own area. The project had also highlighted that the
process of building and sustaining collective action was an on-going one and required to be seen
as a continuous effort over the period of eighteen months. Many NGOs expressed concern over
the apathy of the government agencies and were cynical of the involvement and the role
political/elected representatives would play.
Understanding NGO involvement in Delhi
One of the fundamental problems common to all slums is that of service delivery. Where the
government fails to provide, NGOs try and fill in these gaps depending on the financial and
human resources at their disposal. However, these efforts usually come in the form of support
services that substitute the inadequacies of the government run systems whether it is health,
education, sanitation or women and child care. What NGOs in Delhi are not doing is diverting
49
whatever capacities they possess in the form of financial or human resources towards collectively
addressing the inadequacies of the system.
Having worked in one area for a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 15 years the NGOs stand a
good chance to enable the residents of squatter settlements to take a rights based approach and
demand services due to them. Where Self-help groups are formed to encourage saving habits,
similar groups can also be formed to apply pressure for services at the local level.
Over the years NGOs have taken a welfare approach to address grievances of slum dwellers, it is
clear now that philanthropy and welfare will no longer work. Awareness of rights and the power
to exercise these rights must be promoted. NGOs will not be able to find solutions and address the
most basic of all problems related to the needs of average poor citizens unless they are aware of
what they are entitled to. They need to be encouraged to play an active role in their own
development and in issues related to governance. Although the theory of needs implies that every
person shall strive to achieve their own fulfilment of needs, it is apparent that the poor will
require some sort of initial facilitation to realise the fulfilment of their own needs. See Annex 4.
Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs
NGOs need to take into account the positive implications of such capacity building measures.
Experimental processes like the ones initiated during the time period of the project will have to be
sustained on a long-term basis for it to yield results. Capacity building towards a rights based
approach can be applied to any issue related to community development. However, the NGOs
have not taken the initiative to carry on the process. It has been looked upon as another exercise
in research on the basis of which reports will be written and conclusions arrived at.
One of the crucial points that often get overlooked in the process of meeting organisational aims
and objectives is the crucial link that service delivery mechanisms have with various community
development activities. Take for example health – while speaking of reproductive and child
health what one may tend to focus on is the clinical side of the issue. What may be sidelined is
the direct link between undernourished children, their inability to perform in schools, as well as
the structural inadequacies of the government run schools, which foster these handicaps rather
than identify and rectify them.
50
Limitations of the interaction process with NGOs –
- The Project was viewed as another experimental exercise in isolation from the main
activities of the NGOs.
- NGOs were unwilling to innovate and experiment area specific community building
strategies given their own organisational objectives and aims.
- ISST was continuously expected to lead the organising of community groups. Between
interactions with communities, NGOs waited for ISST to get back to them for the results
or suggest the next course of action.
- NGOs were less forthcoming with regard to suggestions to bring the residents of their
clusters together.
- Several NGOs did not have a complete understanding of community dynamics and as a
result internal disputes within communities complicated the process.
- Given the bureaucratic set up of the civic service authorities and the whimsical behaviour
of political representatives, NGOs did not take a proactive approach. They adopted the
traditional ‘nothing will happen’ tone.
- NGOs did not express a willingness to work together. They felt threatened by the
implications of a partnership approach in fear of loosing out their hold on the
communities.
- NGOs that were willing to participate in the project having understood the commitments
on their behalf were hampered by serious human resource limitations.
Recommendations - NGO sector
Orientation: Re-orienting of the activities within the NGO sector is a must to draw attention to
the more positive and constructive role NGOs can play in development issues. NGOs need to
rethink their role in welfare and development works. Their intervention strategies need to be
rethought in order to incorporate the new emerging idea of collaborate intervention with an
emphasis on inclusion. So far NGOs have been exhibiting traits that convey a very protectionist
approach towards their areas of work and their levels of involvement. Community development
activities need to be viewed as inter-linked and not as singular isolated efforts with separate goals
and objectives for each activity. A common ground must be established and strategies and
objectives defined to address collective efforts. NGOs must realise that it is not their own agendas
that need attention or reach but the focus must remain the barriers in access and control for
numerous services for the poor.
51
Building NGO solidarity and a collaborative work environment: The NGO sector has grown
by leaps and bounds but it has been unable to keep a focus on its involvement. Many are
unwilling to support long term horizons, slow, careful nurturing and gradual qualitative results
which characterise successful institutional development. It is not about what one NGO is doing in
one corner of Delhi because often the problems and handicaps faced by one or two NGOs are
common to all. Therefore, where in the past NGOs have been apprehensive towards more
collaborative engagements with other NGOs, currently they need to get rid of that mentality and
focus on pooling their resources to address issues that are common, like lack of financial and
human resources, and organisational culture across all platforms. The focus should be on
problems that promote not simply charity and philanthropy but good work, grounded in reality
with practical solutions to address them.
The limitations pointed out do not necessarily apply to all NGOs in Delhi. But the interaction
process certainly illuminated the complexities of the process. What emerged as the most
important issue was the survival of NGOs which determines the activities chosen and the
organisational orientation towards realising the commitments to financial donors.
Interaction with local groups in East Delhi slums
The focus of the Project was identification of community groups and organising capacities of
residents living in slum clusters in Delhi. With some experience of working at the grassroots level,
ISST was aware of the kind of problems slum dwellers face due to gaps in the service delivery of
basic amenities. Based on this understanding one of the most crucial links to tackle these
inadequacies was of course collective action by residents of these clusters. However, one of the
immense challenges was mobilising these groups to address their problems as one collective.
While some clusters were involved in addressing their needs through community based groups, a
majority relied on their Pradhans for grievance redressal. Basically the futility of the entire
process of making numerous trips to numerous offices of local officials without concrete results
discouraged many from organising their time and resources around service delivery issues.
Eventually they learnt to make do with whatever little was provided. One could look upon the
reluctance as lethargy or self-victimisation by the poor of their own situation. However, what can
not be undermined is the years of oppression and sustained neglect of the state and to some extent
civil society that has bred this lethargy.
52
§ One of the major findings from the interaction process with three slum communities in
East Delhi was that issues of service delivery and governance are the last option on which
a community or a group is willing to come together. It gradually became evident that
many rationalised that issues of sanitation, solid waste management, toilets or sewers,
were basic services that government should provide. As citizens they felt entitled to these
services.
What emerged from informal interviews with residents of both Rajiv JJ camp and New
Seemapuri was the issue of ‘ownership rights’ and its significance to service provisions in their
areas. The two settlements emphasised the role and duty of the government to provide services
and did not view themselves as active participants in negotiating for these services. Their point
was that if a toilet block is constructed then it’s a public space and individuals must not be
expected to invest in such spaces, on the other hand if government made provisions for toilets
within each Jhuggi, the residents would willingly share the investment – financial and/or
otherwise. Likewise in Seemapuri, residents expressed a desire to undertake road repair work
after laying down their own sewer connections. They were not comfortable paying huge amounts
for repair work on a lane that was shared by all. They were of the view that if the municipality
can simply issue them sanctions at nominal charges (rupees 190), each household will undertake
the responsibility of repairing the portion outside their house after acquiring a sewer connection.
§ Another important discovery was the lack of organising that took place around ethnic or
socio-cultural backgrounds. In fact what did compel them to organise were issues directly
linked to their survival. Demolition of jhuggis was one incident that mobilised all slum
dwellers across Delhi. All organising primarily occurs around events and incidents in urban
slums. Although clusters are know by their professional or caste affiliations, these clusters
acquired their names when the first generation migrants settled in the city 10-15 years ago.
Over the years the clusters have grown and inhabited migrants from varied professions, caste
backgrounds and states. The limitations to mobilise are not specific to the residents not
belonging to the same socio-cultural background – in fact residents were more focused in
striving to meet their daily and most immediate needs of employment and food.
§ Although few clusters did exhibit some eagerness for collective action to address service
delivery failures - internal disputes within clusters further complicated the process. While older
residents of the clusters had lived with no services for a long time – they had managed to
53
acquire a few services through a certain amount of political largesse. In order to acquire the
same they had to undergo several hardships and sometimes even physical abuse. These
individuals or families over the years had worked out a way around the system that allowed the
slum dwellers to avail of certain minimalist services. They were not prepared to now allow new
occupants to make use of infrastructure service provisions without any monetary contributions.
For instance in the case of Rajiv JJ camp, when the residents agreed to negotiate with the local
authorities for a toilet complex they even suggested that they pay a nominal amount every month
towards O & M charges. What the group was not willing to allow was the use of the same
complex by tenants who had recently taken up jhuggi on rent. The older residents were of the
view that besides the rent for the jhuggi, the tenants paid no other charges towards other
amenities like electricity, private sweepers etc. They older residents wanted to negotiate for a
toilet block but only for the older residents.
§ What also emerged as another point of dispute were the discrepancies between two groups
headed by two different Pradhans. The Pradhans like to take a neutral ground. They want to
remain in power and therefore need to listen to the people (occasionally) - but they also want to
keep the political representatives happy (in the hope of extending their political career). They
also like to keep the local ration shop owners happy. Again in the case of Rajiv JJ camp the
residents were divided over the issue of pursuing their complaints against the faulting ration
shop owner or dropping all charges against him. Although the camp showed solidarity when
they learnt of the black marketing of their food grains and compelled the ration shop owner to
give an old, handicapped individual one year’s free rations. However, with insufficient support
from the local NGO and pressure from the Pradhan only three residents refused to take back
their complaints.
§ The interaction process also highlighted the interesting factor related to ‘local diplomacy’
and negotiation patterns. The slum dwellers indulge in ‘need based negotiation’. And the first
obvious choice of the ‘negotiating agent’ is not a municipal authority but a ‘politician’.
Residents here form alliances with ‘political’ representatives that help them in their attempts to
survive the unfriendly and intimidating atmosphere of the city. Local diplomacy at the local
level manifests itself in networks/links that slum dwellers form with their political
representatives. These links are more often than not utilised to meet everyday needs from
making ration cards, birth certificates, pension payments, certifying documents to the
54
occasional request for road repair or cleaning community toilet blocks etc. This pattern of
negotiation was evident in slums obtaining minimalist basic service provisions. In exchange for
votes the slum dwellers received a water tap, a hand pump, maintenance and repair of the lanes
within the cluster and even small drains for flow of water. However, these very same links are
important elements of the survival mechanism for these settlements.
§ In a settlement type like a resettlement colony, organising once again posed tremendous
challenges. In the case of New Seemapuri, the colony is divided economically. There are
certain clusters that are relatively well off and others that are very indigent. In both the one
common binding factor was the agreement that it was the government’s duty to provide basic
service provisions. Although the willingness to mobilise was less apparent in well off blocks it
was more pronounced in blocks that were financially burdened. However, in these blocks too,
the residents did not see any scope for personal involvement. Living in near inhuman
conditions they took some interest because it was ultimately a question of survival. But their
willingness to participate diminished quickly given the priority they assigned to problems of
employment and making ends meet.
§ Negotiating and building dialogue links between Government officers and slum dwellers
proved difficult due to the social distance between the two parties46. Negotiation can work if
both parties agree to lay down their terms and conditions on an equal platform with equal
opportunities to gain or loose. Or at a very basic level express their willingness to initiate
interaction. While the slum dwellers expressed their willingness to negotiate – the government
agencies continued to hide behind the legal provisions of what can or can not be provided.
They suggested that the poor do not fulfil the conditions necessary to secure a water or
sewerage connection. The idea of a pilot intervention was subverted. Instead the government
officers suggested two possible interventions – one to approach the commissioner of the MCD
who would then delegate responsibilities or rather than turning to the government they should
mobilise the NGOs active in the area to tackle the gaps in delivering services. (See also
ANNEX 2.)
§ NGOs would be more than happy to intermediate but the process would require the
government agencies to first relax conditions that they normally impose on those seeking
service as well as to encourage the poor to start paying for services. For this process to come
into play the NGOs, communities and government need to network and communities need to
55
be effectively mobilised. Mobilisation is a core strategy for all NGOs to enable local groups to
manage services and sustain benefits from such services. When it was pointed out that the
frontline service providers were dismissive of the poor no comments were made on behalf of
the government agents, except that matters of this sort must be referred to the Commissioner.
One of the essential components of a participatory approach under the project was to involve
all three parties - local groups, NGOs and the government to work together. However, the
government agencies expressed no interest in giving the tripartite model any serious
thought. They entertained questions, sat through presentations and acknowledged the
imperfections within the system but offered no real commitments on their behalf.
What emerges from the process of interaction is the following:
- Negotiation and interaction can not be successful between two unequal parties- slum
dwellers and government agencies.
- Although ‘community’ is loosely applied to slum clusters – these clusters are far removed
from the standard notions of community.
- Organising in slums does not occur because an ‘outsider’ wants it to. It is strictly event
and incident based.
- Threats to survival determine the level of mobilisation in slum clusters.
- Slum dwellers believe the government must provide services. Only if residents can claim
ownership of such services will they willingly participate.
- Residents are of the view that NGOs and Government must bear the financial costs for
providing basic services – if they can not, then the slum dwellers prefer to rely on small
time appeasement policies of political representatives.
- Negotiation patterns in slums are peculiar in that they rely heavily on the political
representatives rather than the municipal authorities.
- Slum dwellers prioritise activities directly linked to access to employment and food more
than clean water, toilets and garbage disposal.
- They understand what they were entitled to receive but lacked the power to voice their
demand.
- There is a tendency of dependency on outside agencies to solve local problems.
- The everyday struggle to survive often prevents disempowered groups from taking action.
- Insecurity of tenure does not allow for maximising participation as people are
apprehensive of such actions, fearing that pressurising for services may result in arbitrary
eviction drives.
56
Conclusion
The Constitution of India mandates to provide for the well being of the population. Article 25 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states…‘everyone has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing,
housing and medical care and necessary social services…’ While there are national as well as
international provisions 47 that secure the basic rights of women, men and children around the
world, the poor in India continue to lead miserable lives full of despair and drudgery.
The urban poor are one of the largest contributors to the economy of Delhi and yet they live with
the minimalist and/or in absence of basic services. So what is it that they are not doing right? Or
what is it that the ‘active civil society’ is not doing correctly? In a system of governance
embedded with corruption and preferential treatment, access to information and active citizen
participation are the two essential components in this necessary process of making services work
for the poor. Of course these alone can not achieve the desired outcomes without the support of
government. The role that the government can play in making services work is tremendous.
Access to information is a stimulant for public action; it’s a catalyst for change. If the workings of
the government are made open and accessible to the public then the very process reverses the
power dynamics and increases the cost of corruption as a result promoting accountability.
However, merely passing Right to Information Acts is not enough. These Acts remain a mere
mockery unless the government makes them accessible to vulnerable groups. Right to
Information holds immense power to demand accountability but if it is treated as a mere trend in
development and governance rather than a sincere effort to change the system the Act may as
well not exist. A group’s ability to press their demands depends on their access to information,
perceived rights and literacy. Here the role of civil society, NGOs is fundamental to fostering the
ideas of participatory democracy and building the capacities and capabilities of local groups.
When large numbers of poor people are aware of their rights across the same city and start to
question and demand basic services/entitlements due to them, services can begin to function for
the poor. But one must bear in mind that this process of imparting information, absorbing
information and enabling the poor to access information is a time consuming process albeit
critical to addressing poor service delivery.
57
The problems with basic services is the lack of access, affordability, corruption in municipal
agencies in-charge of these services, lack of incentives for professionals, agencies are not pro-
poor and there is a diversity of clients. Thus the one size fits all model is immediately rendered
useless. Huge amounts are budgeted to meet the service needs of the poor that fail to reach them
or go towards things they do not use or are diverted along the way. So what is it that needs to be
done? It is not advisable to only rely on the private sector nor is it advisable to increase
government spending. Spending more on services does not necessarily equate to improved
outcomes. Spending is valuable when the way resources are utilised is crucial to their
effectiveness.
In any service providing agency the bottom and top end of the organisation must have a clear and
balanced view of what is being provided to whom and how? If providers are not clear about their
objectives there is very little that can be achieved. What is crucial is recognising the poor as equal
citizens and fulfilling their basic needs. The poor are demanding the most basic services like
clean, reliable and available drinking water, clean, hygienic and useable toilets, a systematic and
corruption free Public Distribution System. Many of these service providing agencies neglect the
role of poor clients in making services work.
All across Delhi before as well as after the privatisation of Delhi, slum dwellers have either
deposited money (rupees 350 per household) or attempted to fill in numerous forms to acquire
metered electricity connections. Unfortunately they continue to rely on non-recognised paid
connection – a scheme that was operationalised and abandoned in 1996 and the money invested
was not refundable.
In the context of Delhi where multiple agencies are in-charge of service delivery, difficulties
arise with regard to pinning the responsibility and networking to any one agency. Multiple
agencies make the process of successful service delivery to the poor extremely difficult.
Often one service is provided in part by two agencies. For instance in the case of sewer
connection, DJB is responsible for sanctioning, however, the MCD Engineering department is in
charge of laying down the sewer line connections. In the case of Seemapuri, neither of the two
were willing to provide relevant information on the sanction fees until the same was acquired
through a Right to Information application.
58
In the absence of committed and competent frontline providers addressing service delivery gaps
becomes an uphill task. What these service providing institutions need is a leader who is not
overtly pro-poor but sensitive and open to the needs and demands of the poor. These institutions
must build an organisational culture that does not dismiss or disregard the vulnerable and
marginalised. A pro-poor approach to service delivery is a must and it involves expansion of the
service network, provision of multiple service levels, cross-subsidy of connection fees, and
presence of strong community leadership and participation.
We must also consider that service providers can not be held responsible for outcomes in
isolation. It is clear that successful services for the poor will emerge from building of institutional
relations in which actors become accountable to each other. If service providers are aware of the
needs and design their service delivery mechanisms around these identified needs and defined
problems then the clients can monitor and supervise the services at the point of delivery. But
before the local groups start negotiation with service providing agencies – organisational change
must become a high priority for service provider agencies. This is a complicated process that can
not be completed overnight, but nevertheless must be done. Without a pro-poor approach to
service delivery, services for the poor will continuously be violated and its resources diverted
elsewhere.
Learning and looking ahead
The Project brought forward several absorbing issues about participatory approaches in
governance and raised some valuable questions pertaining to notions of community, organising
among slum dwellers, their needs/priorities as opposed to those imposed from the outside and the
critical issue of the possibility of their integration into the city.
§ Absence of community appeared to be one of the key emerging issues from activities
carried out in the field. There are clusters within Delhi where people from the same village or
those following the same profession resided together thereby confirming the association of
community by area of origin or through professional affiliation. Yet the slum clusters visited
through the course of the project were suggestive of an absence of a community ethos. By
absence of community is implied that the residents lacked a feeling of belonging or a sense of
historical association with each other. Even brothers who migrated together and resided next to
each other in one cluster said that in the city family and blood relations were over ridden by
59
individual priorities and needs. Each individual remains caught up in a never ending struggle to
meet daily needs and is left with very little time to forge ties and build relationships as s/he
would in the villages – and collective action as a community only comes together on issues of
survival and evictions 48.
§ Insecurity of tenure to a large extent determines the motivation levels for participation by
slum residents in addressing their service delivery problems. Without security of tenure
residents are unable to comprehend the practicality of forming collectives to improve their
cluster habitat. Without ownership of land the sense of belonging to a particular area remains
absent and the willingness to invest both monetarily and in the form of opportunity costs is not
recognised as a wise and important investment. The constant fear of eviction and inadequate
rehabilitation and resettlement weighs heavily over all decisions before considering collective
strategies to solve service delivery problems pertaining to adequate sanitation, water supply,
sewers and garbage collection. This does not reflect indifference or lack of motivation on
behalf of slum dwellers but simply a realisation of the futility of such efforts.
§ Evolution from sacred spaces49 is an interesting organising activity that is taking place in
slum clusters across Delhi. Within a few years of settling in a particular place each cluster
collects both human and financial resources to build and operate temples within their clusters.
These ‘sacred spaces’ convey a certain sense of identity and permanence to their settlement. On
the basis of these they can work towards keeping out other people as well as negotiate with
municipal agencies if and when they arrive to demolish and evict the residents. The organising
around these sacred spaces has a potential to explore negotiation mechanisms to argue for
service provisions and also operate and manage those services.
§ Integration of the poor into the city is yet another emerging issue. From promotion of
slums in the early stages of development of the city, to the current development models – today
cities are moving towards an overhauling process by which all that is dirty and non-conforming
to the norms of a ‘clean, green’ city is being forced out of the city boundaries. The new
development agenda pushed by private (vested) interests and the emerging civil society that
seeks to debar vendors, hawkers from their housing societies is slowly creating an environment
where the poor are further marginalised and their voices suppressed. One of the important
contributors to the state economy are the workers of the informal services sector which
60
provides cheap and reasonable service alternatives to many city residents. However, with
vested interests at play their socio-economic status continues to remain stagnant.
61
ANNEX 1.
Brief description of the areas visited as part of the preliminary observation exercise
The slums and colonies visited during the preliminary observation exercise under the project were
informal squatter settlements and resettlement colonies. These settlements were primarily of three
types - Harijan Bastis, Jhuggi-Jhonpdi (JJ) clusters and Resettlement Colonies. The project was
initiated in these three settlement types.
There is a fine line that differentiates one squatter settlement type from another with regard to the
services available in each settlement. There are 7 different categories of slums according to
government officials/agencies 50 - besides Resettlement Colonies all other settlements are
squatters on government or private land. In a slum cluster once the inhabitants settle, the civic
agency, Slum &JJ Wing of the MCD51 is responsible for providing minimum basic services like
one water tap, drains, community toilet blocks and garbage disposal facilities. A few slums have
been notified as slum areas under Section 3-A of the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance)
Act 1956 and are scattered all over the city. An estimated 20 lakh population are believed to be
living in areas notified as slums. Out of which the old city of Shahjahanabad accommodates a six
lakh population (which was originally meant to accommodate 60,000) 52.
The last survey conducted by the Slum and JJ department and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
in 1994 enumerated 4,80,000 household in 1080 slum clusters in the capital. Since 1994 the MCD
has not conducted more surveys so as to discourage registration of new slums but unofficial
surveys indicate that their numbers have nearly doubled over the last six years (Chakrabarti
2002).
The residents of these slums were initially living in shacks made of straw mats, plastic sheets and
other waste materials with no permanent structures for houses or services. Over the years with
political largesse and in exchange for votes, they have managed to make semi- permanent houses
and acquired minimal civic amenity provisions. According to a survey conducted in 1996, 83.54
per cent slum shelters are made of mud walls and thatched roofs, 14.40 per cent with brick and
mud wall with asbestos roof and 1.47 per cent with brick wall and tin roof 53. However, these
settlements have not been able to expand the size of their houses (that usually measure 18 sq
yards or less). While some degree of upward mobility has allowed slum dwellers to upgrade the
62
physical characteristics of their houses, the government records are still fuzzy about definitions
and characteristics that are assigned to these informal settlements.
**Rajiv JJ Camp National Highway-24 - Rajiv camp is a small Jhuggi Jhonpdi cluster located
alongside National Highway - 24. Rajiv camp came into existence around 1988-89. There were a
maximum of 7-8 jhuggis when the camp dwellers began working as construction labour on the
highway and settled in the area. Over the years the number of chugs has expanded and now Rajiv
camp inhabits 350 households. The residents are migrants primarily from Bihar and Bengal and a
few from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. A majority of the population earns its
living on a day-to-day basis working as construction labourers, rickshaw pullers, vendors.
Women usually find work as domestic helpers in the neighbouring housing society complexes.
JJ clusters or Jhuggi Jhonpdi clusters as they are locally referred to, literally translates into shacks
and shanties. At present there are 929 JJ clusters in Delhi54. These like any other slum cluster
started out with houses made of waste materials and over the years have managed to acquire
semi-permanent structures. However, since these were typified as JJ clusters 15-20 years ago at
the time they first came up, they still carry the same typology. They are therefore not legally
entitled to any permanent infrastructural civic amenities such as a permanent toilet blocks or
drains or water taps. However as mentioned earlier, a few basic services such as drains and water
taps have been acquired by such settlements through formation of alliances and networking with
their political representatives. These clusters are their vote banks and politicians indulge in small
appeasement actions by providing them with taps and drains. These provisions are provided out
of the development fund of the local area political elected representative such as a MLA (Member
of Legislative Assembly).
**Harijan Basti (Sonia Camp) Mandawali - This Basti is a small 200-300 household cluster.
The inhabitants have been living here for the last 15 years and the first settlers were primarily of
the low or Harijan caste. Harijan Basti is like any other slum with similar physical characteristic
and lacking many civic amenities but the distinctness of this particular slum is associated with the
title that refers to a specific caste grouping. At present there are 113 Harijan Bastis in Delhi.
However, the particular Harijan Basti under the project could also be called a slum as the
municipal agencies have marked this particular slum and the Slum and JJ department of the MCD
has provided one drinking water tap and a community toilet block. The block was also obtained
63
through the sustained efforts of the residents and the NGO (ISST) with the help of the local
municipal councillor four years prior to the commencement of the project.
**New Seemapuri - Located on the outskirts of Delhi, New Seemapuri is a resettlement colony
that was settled in 1975. Most of the residents were slum dwellers before being relocated here.
The inhabitants were provided with plots of 22 yards each on a 99-year lease with a house tax of
rupees 8 per month. Majority of its residents are children of long-term migrants to the city and
were born in Delhi.
Here, residents work as da ily wage earners, workers in private factories, shop owners, small
businessmen and a few work as government employees at the clerical level. Women are part of
the informal sector household workers, usually involved in making bindis or cutting thread from
finished garments. The average family size is 6 members55 with two elders and four children or
four elders and two children.
There are six main blocks in the New Seemapuri area - blocks A-F. There are a minimum of 9
and a maximum of 16 galis (lanes) the figure varying from block to block. The sizes of all the
blocks are not the same. A few blocks such as blocks D&E are larger compared to the others.
Each block has approximately 196-780 houses depending on the number of houses in each lane.
Five of the six blocks are lined with JJ clusters with a population varying between 300 - 1,400
people.
**Resettlement Colonies are planned colonies that were set up to relocate the squatter
population. The resettlement of JJ clusters began in 1961. The commencement of the scheme was
made with allotment of two massive programmes for settlement of about 1.97 lakh JJ cluster
households undertaken by the DDA with development of 26 new JJ Resettlement colonies.
Currently there are 46 resettlement colonies in Delhi where 2,16,000 squatter families were
resettled at a subsidised price of Rs. 5,000. These are located on the periphery of the city. The
purpose of relocation on the periphery is almost always linked to the growing demands of urban
renewal to provide space for development works, commercial buildings and recreational spots for
the affluent sections of the city.
64
Besides security of tenure the socio-economic conditions of these resettlement colonies are
similar to those of squatter settlements. In spite of being planned colonies, they suffer from
several infrastructural inadequacies such as irregular and inadequate water supply, poor sewerage,
drainage, schools, ration/food grain shops. A household survey in two resettlement colonies
revealed that 99 per cent of the food grains were being siphoned off. The families resettled in
these colonies are not provided with built houses but merely provided plots of land measuring 22
sq. yards given out on either a 99 year lease, or in some cases of recent relocation a 10 year lease
on plots has been provided. Given the small size of the plots most residents cannot make space
for toilets within the houses and are compelled to make use of community toilet blocks. Each
block has one community toilet block with a maximum of 16-20 seats for a population of 1,500 or
more. The toilet block is rarely cleaned (once in a week maybe in two -three weeks).
The supply of drinking water for such colonies is met through ground water sources. Initially no
water connections were provided to families. In New Seemapuri, approximately 8 hand pumps
were shared between 32 families. The ground water source over the years has been contaminated
due to open defecation and inadequate garbage disposal facilities but unable to find a safer
alternative, families simply continue to use these sources to supplement their drinking water and
domestic needs. The inadequacies in water supply are quite evident between the well-to-do and
underprivileged sections of the city.
The Delhi Master Plan says that each person shall receive 363 litres of water per day56 ,
nonetheless, some areas receive water in excess of the recommended supply, and other areas
suffer from acute water shortage.
Table 10
Delhi Jal Board (DJB) – expenditure on supply of water through tanks
S. No Year Average no. of Tanks Approximate yearly expenditure (in lakhs)
1
2
3
4
1998-1999
1999-2000
2000-2001
2001-2002
782
864
902
894
878
1341
1273
1189
Source: Hazards Centre, October 2004; Information accessed under Right to Information.
Out of the total expenditure 70 per cent is spent in Unauthorised Colonies and 20 per cent in JJ
Clusters. The information was used to argue that for the same money piped water supply could be
65
provided. It was also learnt that the DJB provided 10 LPCD57/One Hydrant/deep bore hand pump
per 100 chugs. This demonstrated that the norm for slums was far below the norm (270 LPCD) of
the Master Plan.
Drainage and sewage systems in these colonies are highly inadequate. As a policy the MCD
carries out drain and sewer cleaning once in a year. Cleaning of the smaller drains (of the few that
do exist) in New Seemapuri is random. During the rainy-season these colonies suffer from
various waterborne and mosquito borne diseases. Water logging and choked sewage pipes are a
routine occurrence during the rainy seasons. With choked drains and sewage pipes the residents
constantly have to prevent the dirty water from entering their houses. In New Seemapuri, sewer
systems were laid in some colonies as late as 10-20 years after resettlement. There were several
infrastructural inadequacies at the time of laying the sewerage connections, the pipes were laid
too low and over the years have required excess government expenditure to carry out repair and
maintenance work to operate them.
66
ANNEX 2.
Context for Negotiations in Urban slums
Negotiations and building linkages were one of the core components of ensuring public
accountability through community action. The basic idea behind addressing service delivery gaps
was to develop a platform for negotiation and dialoguing between two very distinct and yet
crucial groups. The idea of negotiation stems from the term diplomacy –it has been referred to as
the ‘art of negotiations’, the appreciation of public opinion and the alternative to arriving at
agreements ‘without the use of force or other means’58. While these may all be true at the level of
international relations- at the local level the same terms diplomacy and negotiation acquire
different meanings.
The first step towards building local diplomacy between the government and a unique group of
citizens is what makes the usage and application of the term complicated. The way negotiation
and agreements resulting from the same impact on a unique group of (slum) residents is what the
project attempted to understand.
In the contemporary context the term multi-stakeholder diplomacy is fast gaining ground.
However, the multi-stakeholder approach often poses two very fundamental questions whose
stake and what is the stake? For a section of the population, which has been alienated from its
government and from the society as a whole, the application of such a term poses serious
considerations at the ground level. Firstly, the poor have been kept away from the policy level
decision-making process which is practiced and implemented by those who have a very limited
understanding of the realties where they seek to impose their ideology. Secondly, the issues
addressed are not those that aim to adequately improve the lives of the slum dwellers. Further
more the power play between the two distinct groups of slum dwellers and their
political/government representatives is one where the poor (due to lack of voice) always loose out
with respect to constructing models of negotiation that address their needs.
Negotiations are successful when all concerned parties enjoy an equal share in decision-making
and are treated as knowledgeable human beings and not passive agents on whose behalf a few
educated individuals can take all the (wrong) decisions. The fact is that negotiating parties must
bring to the table ‘legitimate interests’ in order to reach an agreement that is ‘wise’ and ‘efficient’
and ‘improve’ relationships between parties; these can only be achieved through participation on
67
both ends. The poor in India, for a host of feudal, cultural, colonial reasons have been unable to
break out of the ‘mai baap’ mode. This feeling of helplessness and dependency has been further
aggravated in this country through the culture of bureaucracy that limits the participation of the
poor thereby keeping those who can best address their needs out of the decision-making process.
The premise of a sovereign republic (as is the case with India) is that the people who choose
functionaries that they put in seats of authority to implement decisions on their behalf should
have a say in the process of governance. In spite of constitutional amendments (such as the 73rd
&74th) the decision-making at the local level continues to leave out a large section of the
population who can positively contribute towards their own development.
Local diplomacy has a long way to go before the poor can interact and influence policies in their
favour. One kind of networking or negotiation pattern that is currently prevalent in the urban
slums of Delhi is that between the slum clusters and their immediate political and government
agents. However, these result in small favours that are illegal and as unrecognised as the slums
the poor inhabit. Is there potential to develop this source of networking in a way that it can enable
the slum residents to argue for better services? Yes, in the near future this level of negotiation can
be strengthened and organised.
One of the single largest factors determining the constructive engagement of the poor is
security of tenure. Without tenure security the slum dwellers suffer from pervasive constant
threats of demolition and eviction. It is the single largest fear in their minds – without
security of tenure there is no incentive to invest in improving living spaces or think about
participating in order to influence policy.
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ANNEX 3.
Profiles of Implementing partner NGOs under the Project (East Delhi)
RASTA is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1994 by a group of social
activists with a mission to care for the less cared and disadvantaged people of our community.
Rasta is currently involved with three slum and JJ clusters in East Delhi. Their various programs
are underway in Rajiv JJ camp (located alongside NH-24), Indra JJ camp Pt 1, and Indra JJ camp
Pt 2.
The organisation began its fieldwork in December 1999. Their vision - to show the path to every
individual to realise his/her potential and live with self-dignity and enjoy an equal social status in
an environment of solidarity and communal harmony.
For the past three years their strategy has been centred on organising and sensitising the people of
the community towards their development needs and the initiatives that can be explored to fulfil
these needs. Rasta has attempted to help communities develop their capacities for sustainable
development through utilising local wisdom, encouraging participation, delegating
responsibilities, developing linkages between the Government, maintaining regular follow up,
and providing feedback.
Organisational objectives:
Universlisation of Education: it aims to improve the quality of education by running formal and
non-formal education centres, incorporating different innovations, for all age groups with
emphasis on the girl child and people living below the poverty line.
Community Health: to implement comprehensive awareness generation community health
programs focusing on women and child.
Community Organisation: to organise the underprivileged into self-help groups and undertake
community infrastructure development like school construction.
Income Generation: to undertake skill training and income generation activities to promote self-
reliance in the less privileged.
69
ACTION INDIA has been working since 1975 in Jhuggi Jhompdi clusters and Resettlement
Colonies in Delhi, Action India evolved out of the women’s movement in India. It aims at
enabling marginalised groups to organise themselves to demand a rightful share in the social and
economic resources and participate in all spheres of development.
Action India has been working in the New Seemapuri area for the last 20 years - promoting and
encouraging women’s participation in their own day-to-day lives. Their main strength has been
the formation of Sabla Sanghs (active women’s collectives) to encourage collective action.
Action India’s focus areas are Community Development, Education, Women’s Empowerment,
and Livelihood.
Action India is currently working in several corners of Delhi including East Delhi and South
Delhi. In each of their work areas the NGO has a strong presence. Action India has strongly taken
up the cause of awareness generation on women’s rights. This is done through several women’s
collectives. Every year on women’s day the Organisation takes out a march and organises a get
together of women and other NGOs working in the area on issues like dowry, domestic violence.
They are also constantly engaging in developing street plays on women’s rights.
Organisational objectives:
Counselling for victims of domestic violence and dowry cases.
Documentation of such cases and referrals to the Crime against women cell of Delhi Police.
Crèche for working mothers.
Creative activities for adolescent girls- stitching and tailoring, extra-curricular activities.
Counselling and awareness generation for adolescent girls - legal issues, family life education.
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ANNEX 4.
Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs
If basic needs for shelter, food, work and education are not fulfilled, an individual can not
be expected to participate as an active agent in efforts to promote good governance.
Abraham Maslow posited a hierarchy of needs (late 1960’s) based on two groupings:
deficiency needs and growth needs. Within the deficiency needs, each lower need must
be met before moving to the next higher level. Once each of these needs has been
satisfied, if at some future time a deficiency is detected, the individual will act to remove
the deficiency. The first four levels are:
1) Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts, etc.;
2) Safety/security: out of danger;
3) Belongingness and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted; and
4) Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition. In the context of
slum dwellers respect and status that constitute ‘esteem needs’ play an important role in
what a slum cluster as a group thinks it can expect or demand in terms of their rights in
order to satisfy their basic needs.
The above diagram is an adaptation of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs and attempts to
explain the different levels of contribution that are required from various groups in a society to
promote and support human development especially in the case of the poor. In the context of
NGO involvement the potential for support can come in the development of esteem needs for
slum dwellers. Awareness of their rights and duties as citizens and duties of the state for
fulfilment of these rights is a long-term process of capacity building. These can be taken up by
NGOs to help slum residents develop the confidence to demand these rights as citizens.
Self actualisation
Esteem Needs
Belongingness and love needs
Safety needs
Biological and physiological needs
Individual
Community
NGO/Civil Society
Government (STATE)
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ANNEX 5.59
Similar Experiences in Delhi and other states in India
Project Name : Addressing poverty through participatory governance and management60
Executing organisation: Saahasee Society for Community Empowerment and Urban
Transformation
The project was started with an aim to improve the levels of social and economic life of the
Urban slum communities of Mangolpuri, Sultanpuri and Molar Bund {22000households]. The
methodology adopted was capacity building with an intention to address the community’s poverty
through participatory governance and management of their development issues.
This was a 36 month project which basically highlighted the concerns of resettlement colonies in
west Delhi and worked in collaboration with 4 ngos- MBS, MANSA, MEHAK and KHUSBU,
and the Federation of Women’s Thrift and Credit Cooperatives. The Latent function of this
project was to enable the Slum community to develop the skills and confidence to participate in
the development of their slums by enabling the communities to build and develop their capacities
and skills so as to address the issues that perpetuate poverty in their families and communities.
The secondary aim was to ensure that the project activities are within a context of a supportive
policy, administrative environment and in coalition of mutual benefit with other stakeholders in
and around the area of the slum: Such as residential housing communities and private sector
entrepreneurs.
Project Name : Promoting Linkages for Urban Sustainable Development
Executing Organisation: CARE India
CARE undertook a five year project which was primarily aimed at developing an alternative
approach to improve the quality of life of slum dwellers in Delhi and the rest of the city. The
project targeted and was started in sub substandard settlements in Delhi. The project applied a
distinct strategy to implement its project objectives. Through partnerships with local NGOs the
project was implemented in Dakshinpuri, Sultanpuri, Mongolpuri, Sanjay camp JJ cluster, Indira
camp 3 and 4, Transit camp Govindpuri. The project attempted to signify an alternative approach
to the development process, thereby highlighting the need and necessity to include urban poor in
governance and management of urban areas. Realising the inadequacy of ‘Need based approach’,
72
the programme promoted a ‘Right based approach” and thus ultimately shifting to an “entitlement
approach”. The research and project methodology also consisted of microplanning 61 ,capacity
building ,linkage building and reflective learning62. The PLUS programme also desired to create a
sense of awareness among the communities about the service providers.
Project Name : The Indore Habitat Improvement Project {1990-97}
Implementing organisation: IDA63 supported and funded by DFID.
The Indore Habitat Improvement Project {1990-97} was funded by the British government’s
Department for International Development {DFID}.The programme projected to improve the
provision of availability of basic amenities and other provisions regarding health and sanitation,
education and community development. The planners then introduced an innovative methodical
approach namely “slum networking”64 to implement the planned strategies.
The project targeted 161 slum areas constituting a population of 400,000 65 . The Slum
Networking approach operated on two levels
1. Slums: it aimed to increase the standard of living through creation of individual
infrastructure and overall ambience of the slum.{provision of toilets, water supply,
drains, roads, soft landscaping}
2. City: aims at making substantive improvement in the environment and infrastructure of
the city.{basically forming an indirect linkage between slum improvement and city
environment and infrastructure}
Regrettably, even towards the end of the project, limited coverage was achieved. The IDA has
been accused of providing sub standard material and services66. The Project was awarded World
Habitat award despite gross wastage of project funds and constant outbreaks of epidemics.
Therefore it can be said that Indore experience brings to light some inherently assumed concepts
which are prone to failure, if not implemented judiciously.67
Project name: UMP: Urban Management Programme
AIT and UN-Habitat in Jan 1998 started to coordinate and carry out activities of UMP in the Asia
and Pacific Region. The programme aimed to empower people by ensuring their involvement in
the decision making processes of Urban management and development. The approach devised
73
was CITY CONSULTATION with a view to promote participatory decision making in the urban
development process.
The City consultation process highlights urban issues of priority concerns which affect the
growth and development of the city and simultaneously ensures the coming together of Public,
Private and popular sectors, hence, establishes a participatory work group approach.
In Delhi: since the consultation was gender sensitive in nature, thus, it specifically targeted slum
women. The objective being: to enable women to effectively participate in decision making
process, thereby making a visible impact on the quality of lives, environment and also in creation
of capacity building measures. These broad objectives were setup by “Mahila Chetna-Slum
Women Solidarity Groups”.
Some major activities such as profiling of selected communities through PLA68 techniques, group
meetings, capacity building measures and encouragement to sustain dialogue with the local
administration were carried out which ensured the slum dwellers a better position in negotiating
their demands for basic services, land tenure and shelter accessibility.
The Consultation programme was initiated at the request of the MCD and was formally launched
with the commitment of INDCARE trust69.
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ANNEX 6.
Learnings and Recommendations from the Project Intervention
The final workshop for the Project Ensuring public accountability through community action was
organised over a period of two days (May 16-17, 2005). The aim of the workshop was to reflect
on the project findings and discuss a future course of action for the activities initiated under the
project. The participants at the workshop included partner as well as other non-government
organisations, slum residents, community workers, senior government officials, researchers and
activists from Delhi.
The Workshop attempted to divide the sharing and discussion of project findings into two
different modes of reflection. The first day was focused at understanding and discussing the
issues from an academic research perspective. The second day began with the screening of a short
documentary film, which led to a discussion with the representatives from the slum clusters and
field workers of various NGOs. The discussion also sought the interaction of senior government
officials of the Delhi Government. The purpose for doing the same was to understand the various
issues and factors impacting on the life of the urban poor through different lenses of research,
action and interaction with government agents and understanding how a mix of the three can
result in developing possible changes at the policy level.
The project findings and background paper presentations highlighted a series of critical issues
that were discussed and debated with important recommendations for future interventions like the
ISST- IDRC supported project.
The main issues raised for consideration were the following –
1. Relevance and motives of project based interventions with specific reference to
addressing need/right based issues for the urban poor.
2. Developing a realistic understanding of the needs of the poor people that inhabit the city.
Do their needs get documented and addressed by government or NGOs or are their needs
replaced by perceptions of the NGO sector or apathy of the government agencies.
75
3. Another important issue was the heterogeneity of the urban poor and how different
groups have different needs, different priorities and different ways of making claims on
the system.
4. How do these varied groups view the system, whether these groups are able to influence
the system and in the process change the system?
5. The importance of the power of information was also highlighted but it was also pointed
out that this comes with a whole set of issues – what kind of information is available, is it
useful for critical issues, if it is useful then for whom, and at what cost?
6. The status of the poor and the factors that add to their vulnerability, with several
corporate lobby groups and civil society groups particularly backed by corporate houses,
affluent classes that manipulate the government and in the process claim spaces and make
demands that result in driving out sections of the population that are vital economic
contributors to the city economy but not considered worthy to inhabit the cities of a
modern developing world.
7. The position of the urban poor in light of the Urban Reforms Agenda that is rapidly
picking up pace in many metropolitans across India and is further marginalising the poor.
Here issues of citizenship and disclosure bills are being pushed with the real aim of
attempting to define how citizens can participate in local government without challenging
the traditional role of the government or questioning the processes related to delivery
issues pertaining to ration cards, basic services or development works that are undertaken
in the name of the public with taxes paid by the public.
8. In today’s times with cities becoming globalised at an incredibly fast rate, how does this
rapid process of development impact on the avenues of participation for the public? How
can the poor be organised to prevent the government from manipulating the public or
amassing great amount of wealth and distributing benefits unequally.
9. Important issues pertaining to governance like the quality of leadership, quality of the
governed and the quality of the structures that are in place were also addressed. That
there is a huge problem with quality has been demonstrated by the project but it is
absolutely essential that with capacity building this quality must be enhanced.
76
10. In terms of accessibility it was pointed out through experiences of the homeless people’s
campaign as well as the project activities that a sensitised senior executive in the
government certainly facilitates access but it is making the lower level bureaucracy to
function which is the most challenging and daunting task.
11. Issues pertaining to NGO interventions and interactions were also addressed. For instance
what are the perceptions of slum dwellers/ urban poor groups about NGO’s interacting
with them and what are their expectations resulting from these interaction – do their
expectations go unanswered, are they partly fulfilled what is the understanding of a
cluster about NGOs and their motives for research.
12. Another very important point raised was on the factors influencing the capacity/ability to
mobilise among poor groups. Security of tenure emerged as a strong binding factor,
which if guaranteed enables the poor to think about the future, to invest and commit
because they are sure that they will not be uprooted. Securing tenure for the urban poor
therefore becomes a prime priority with livelihood and work to follow closely.
Recommendations § The project being action-oriented in nature threw considerable light on vital issues for a
primarily research based organisation like ISST. The discussions from the workshops
attempted to formulate a role for organisations like ISST. It was suggested that having the
advantage of being a research institution ISST could work towards developing a resource
centre as part of its Community Outreach Programme activities.
§ Although emphasis on information collection, dissemination was considered essential; it
was also pointed out that information on its own can not provide answers unless it is linked to
the activities that an organisation is engaged in.
§ Alongside Information collection and dissemination it was also considered important that
capacity building become an essential activity. It was suggested that ISST acknowledge that
unless the residents of the area become involved through direct participation and eventually
take ownership of the community centre, project based intervention will be difficult to sustain
and yield results.
77
§ It was also understood that project based interventions are way of initiating a process.
However, this process is not time-bound. Besides human resources, availability of financial
resources must be considered seriously and need to be adequately met to sustain efforts on the
ground. The realisation that the work must carry on after a project has come to an end was
unanimously felt.
§ It was also understood that no doubt issues like addressing gaps in basic service delivery to
the urban poor are important issues that need to be addressed. However, the process can not be
completed within a short period. For the expressed objectives of the ISST-IDRC project it was
amply clear that the process is a long-term one that requires sustained efforts at various levels.
§ Overall, it was also discussed, in light of the macro level developmental changes that are
underway and many more being formulated in cities, it becomes increasingly important to
understand how the urban poor can influence change in their favour. It is certain that the poor
must become informed and enable themselves to become active actors in the process of
governance. However, this requires time, resources, an enabling environment and a focus. How
can active participation of the government, other sections of society and non-government
organisations be invoked to facilitate the process of involving the poor into formal systems of
governance is a large question that needs to be explored at length.
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ANNEX 7.
Photo Essay
To read this please download Photo Essay separately
79
References
A.K. Jain ‘Delhi, Governance, Planning and Development’
Ali, S.2003. ‘Magnitude of Slum Problem in Delhi’. CSD Working paper series – 002/03, Council
for Social Development, New Delhi.
Ali, S.2003. ‘Slums within resettlement colonies as an environmental hazard : A case study of
Delhi slums’. CSD Working paper series – 008/03, Council for Social Development, New
Delhi.
Babu. SVS, ‘Eyewash: Delhi’s long – overdue water price hike’ Down to Earth. December 31,
2004
Census of India, 2001
Dhar Chakrabarti, P.G., 2001. ‘Delhi’s Ongoing Debate on Informal Settlements and Work
Places – Issues of Environmental Jurisprudence’.
Dupont, V., 2002. ‘Socio -spatial differentiation and residential segregation in Delhi: A question
of scale?’ www.elsevier.com/locate/geoforum
Economic Survey of Delhi, 2002-2003
Gupta, S. Mumbai Shanghaied to Patna, Indian Express February 19, 2005
(www.indianexpress.com/print.php?content_id=65012)
Jha, S. Rao, V. & Woolcock, M. 2004. ‘Governance in the Gullies: Democratic responsiveness
and community leadership in Delhi slums’.
Mitra, A. K. 2003. ‘Occupational Choices, Networks and Transfers’ An Exegesis Based on
Micro Data from Delhi Slums. Manohar Publishers, Delhi.
Nigam, A., 2001. ‘Dislocating Delhi, A City in the 1990s’. Sarai Reader 2001: The Public
Domain
Roy, D., 2004. ‘Jagmohan’s Thames will Drown the Poor in Delhi’. Tehelka: The People’s
Paper, published on April 15, 2004.
The Challenge of Slums. Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. United Nations Human
Settlements Programme. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London
World Development Report 2004. ‘Making Services Work for Poor People’. The International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ World Bank.
www.alternative-finance.org.uk/rtf/doc00018mx.rtf
www.delhigovt.nic.in
www.indev.nic.in/indev/search/orgDetails.asp?id=2626
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Endnotes:
1 Rajiv Gandhi said that out of every rupee only 15 paise reaches the poor in India. 2 Targeted Public Distribution System (Rs. 13,675 cr); the Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana; Annapurna
(providing food grain to poor); Antodaya Anna Yojna (providing food grain to the poorest of poor); the Sampoorna Gramin Yojana (50 lakh tonne grain to the poor costing Rs. 5,000 cr); Basic Minimum Services (Rs. 3,700 cr) [Bunker Roy, Indian Express, New Delhi, Wednesday, January 5, 2004]
3 Aruna Roy MKSS 4 With the Central Right to Information Act also now passed by both houses of Parliament (May 2005) is
awaiting the President’s assent and notification. 5 Shacks and shanties 6 Delhi governments Bhagidari model 7 Residents Welfare Associations 8 www.delhigovt.nic.in 9 K. C. Sivaramakrishnan 1996 cited in Governance in the Gullies: Democratic responsiveness and
community leadership in Delhi slums. Saumitra Jha, Vijayendra Rao and Michael Woolcock November 22, 2004
10 Governance in the Gullies: Democratic responsiveness and community leadership in Delhi slums. Saumitra Jha, Vijayendra Rao and Michael Woolcock November 22, 2004
11 M Banerji 2004 Review of Basic Services in the Slums and Resettlement Colonies of Delhi 12 Mitra (2003) estimates inequality in income distribution as measured by Gini coefficient in ‘recognised
slums’ to be similar to that of the city as a whole and the percent below the poverty line to be quite low at 25%.
13 Misra, et al. 1998 cited in Governance in the Gullies: Democratic responsiveness and community leadership in Delhi slums Saumitra Jha, Vijayendra Rao and Michael Woolcock November 22, 2004
14 Sridharan 1995 cited in Governance in the Gullies: Democratic responsiveness and community leadership in Delhi slums Saumitra Jha, Vijayendra Rao and Michael Woolcock November 22, 2004
15 Sridharan 1995 cited in Governance in the Gullies: Democratic responsiveness and community leadership in Delhi slums Saumitra Jha, Vijayendra Rao and Michael Woolcock , November 22, 2004
16 Jagmohan's demolition of the Yamuna Pushta Slums in 2004 17 Saumitra Jha, Vijayendra Rao and Michael Woolcock November 22, 2004 Governance in the Gullies:
Democratic responsiveness and community leadership in Delhi slums 18 www.disdevelopment.net/application/natural_hazards/overvie... 19 City level, area level and site level provisions. 20 (Plan provisions represent statutory entitlements under Delhi Development Act (by which DDA was set
up for development according to plan) and Delhi’s land policy (by which land was placed at state’s disposal for this with a view to safeguarding interests of the poor) http://www.delhiscienceforum.org/dmp2021/documents/A_RHR.htm#box
21Dunu Roy, Jagmohan’s Thames will Drown the Poor in Delhi, Tehelka: The People’s Paper, April 15, 2004.
22 See background paper by Solomon Benjamin ‘The Lifestyle Advertisement and the Marxist Manifesto as Trojan Horses in a City of Stealth’
23 See Background paper by Bikram Jeet Batra ‘Entitlement to Services and Amenities in JJ clusters, JJ Relocation Colonies and other non-planned settlements in Delhi: an Overview’.
24 The Conservancy and Sanitation Engineering Department of MCD 25 Civic agency responsible for water supply in Delhi 26 Gupta, S. Mumbai Shanghaied to Patna, Indian Express February 19, 2005
(www.indianexpress.com/print.php?content_id=65012) 27 A.K. Jain ‘Delhi, Governance, Planning and Development’ 28 Census 2001, Provisional Data 29 Before privatization of electricity slums followed a system of sub-contracting electricity. Where slum
residents paid a monthly fee of 100-150 rupees depending on the electrical equipment owned to a main contractor.
81
30 Every slum dweller pays for electricity connection. Since government legally cannot provide the slum
dwellers with electricity meters although many have demanded. Slum dwellers make direct payment of 50-150 rupees to lines men/ electricity pole repair personnel to sustain electricity supply to their homes.
31 http://delhiplanning.nic.in/Economic%20Survey/chapter_3.htm#3.2 32 This cluster was demolished in 2003 Pushta demolitions. 33 5 Ngo’s including ISST from East Delhi and 1 fro m South Delhi. 34 Volunteers from the Peoples movement against corruption- Parivartan offered their time to speak on the
Right to Information Act of Delhi. 35 Academic Advisor at ISST also on the Advisory Board to the project 36 The fight between the then MLA and Councilor – both belonging to different political parties resulted in
the demolition of the toilet block. 37 The ‘old’ residents and the ‘new’ residents(evictees) from another slum cluster a few kilometers away
from Rajiv camp disputed over the use of the toilet block 38 Rajiv camp is located right behind the local electricity supply office. 39 See Background note on Health in Urban slums. 40 PRA tools that guide researchers to sort priorities to reach certain realisations 41 An approximate percentage of the various states the residents or their family migrated from. 42 A residential housing society for the middle and relatively affluent sections. 43 Also see Annex 7 Photo essay ‘Harijan basti – whose garbage is it anyway?’ 44 Study was conducted independent of the Project by Manjushree Mishra Associate Director ISST 45 Both material and immaterial resources such as organisational support, information and local initiative. 46 See also background paper Indu Prakash Singh ‘THE DISCOVERY OF ‘A’ NAME: The Coming of
Community, Identity, Dignity… to deal with Homelessness.’ 47 See background paper Joy Deshmukh Ranadive’ Housing the poor: How relevant are Human Rights?” 48 See Background note Suchi Pande ‘A reflection on notions of community in urban slums in Delhi.’ 49 See background paper Jyotsna Bapat ‘Urban Governance Issues and the Sacred Canopy’. 50 Legally notified Slum areas, Jhuggi Jhonpdi Clusters, Unauthorized Colonies & Harijan Bastis, Urban
Villages, Pavement dwellers, Resettlement Colonies, Regularised Unauthorised colonies. Sabir, Ali, 2003 &Economic survey of Delhi 2001-02.
51 The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) the apex agency for planning and development of the city, is empowered to prepare a master plan, zonal plan, to implement and enforce plans and to develop, manage and dispose off lands in Delhi. The Slum &JJ wing of the MCD initially part of the DDA was merged with the civic body in September 1992.
52 Sabir Ali (2002-03) &Chakrabarti 2002 53 Chakrabarti 2002 54 Birdi H.D. (1995) in Sabir Ali (2002-03)’ Magnitude of slum problem in Delhi’. CSD working paper
series. 55 The family size varies from 2-12 members depending on each household. But on an average there are 6
members in a family. 56 Babu. SVS, Down to Earth. December 31, 2004 57 Litres per capita per day 58 See background paper Medha Bisht ‘Sanitation and Waste Management: A Perspective of Gender and
Diplomacy’. 59 See background paper Jyotsna Bapat ‘Experiences of People – Government interactions: In urban
infrastructure provisioning.’ 60 http://www.indev.nic.in/indev/search/orgDetails.asp?id=2626 61 Community members developed action plans with the help of concerned government officials for
addressing their developmental needs 62 Represents a shift of attitude in the community with regard to functioning of govt departments 63 Indore Development Authority 64 Dewan Gita,Slumming India.{slum networking has also been used in, Slum networking by Diacon.D as a
holistic approach to urban imp rovement. It involves formation of linkages and networks within a community to compliment a certain socio-economic procedure.
65 http://www.alternative-finance.org.uk/rtf/doc00018mx.rtf 66 drainage, sanitation and water supply being the areas of concerns.
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67 This sentence refers to assumptions such as:avialibility of loans,avialibility of wet areas within
households, estimated costs (Indore’s Habitat improvement Project: success or failure?, Dewan Geeta) 68 Participatory Learning and Action. 69 Non-Governmental organization working with poor communities in the city.