Introduction: Slums in India

A. WHAT IS A SLUM??
The definition of slum varies from country to country. In India, each state has its own definition of slum. The
National Definition of Slum areas was set by the Slum Areas Improvement and Clearance act of 1956.1 It defines
them as places where buildings:
1. are in any respect unfit for human habitation;
2. are by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement and design of such buildings, narrowness or
faulty arrangement of streets, lack of ventilation, light, sanitation facilities or any combination of these
factors which are detrimental to safety, health and morals.
The Census of India defines a slum as "a compact area of at least 300 in population or about 60-70 households of
poorly built, congested tenements in an unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking
proper sanitary and drinking water facilities."2

B. WHERE DO YOU FIND SLUMS??

Slums are an urban phenomenon and they represent an imbalance between migration into cities and economic
growth within the city itself. Slums grow in the following ways3:
1. Population growth of slums. Indian slums suffer from poor utilization of the reproductive child health
services provided by the government, lack of awareness regarding birth spacing, and very low use of

contraceptives, writes researcher Shraddha Agrawal. Furthermore, "Literacy and age at marriage are not
raised in spite of laws made by the government.4
2. Migration from rural areas to more developed areas by people looking to earn more through higher-paying
manual labor compared to the low-returns life of agriculture. Kumari Selja, Minister for Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation, notes that despite rapid economic growth in urban areas, poverty is still on the rise.
The pace of urbanization in India is set to increase, and with it, urban poverty and urban slums, despite 62
percent of GDP now being generated in towns and cities.5 However, the effect of this is disputed. Urban
poverty is not a spill-over of rural poverty as generally perceived and the manufacturing sector in India has
not been able to provide necessary pull to rural workers,6 writes researcher S.R. Hashim in the UNDPs
Urban Poverty Report on India.
3. Changes within a citys economic structures also contribute to urban poverty. Restructuring and dismantling
of larger industries in big cities like Mills due to higher land prices, writes Hashim, [leaves] a large number
of workforce jobless forcing them into informal sector activities.
Health, Hygiene and Sanitation

Housing in slums becomes a major health concern because residents of slums live
in overcrowded situations. Two-thirds of households are simple one-room structures, a majority of them with dirt
floors and poor ventilation. Such overcrowding can lead to rapid spread of respiratory and skin disease.
Access to drinking water in slums is another major problem. More than two thirds of slum residents lack access to
safe drinking water on their premises. The main sources of water are handpumps, though tap water is available in
some homes. The lack of safe drinking water facilitates the spread of water borne diseases. The presence of stored
water further promotes the breeding of mosquitoes and diseases such as malaria.
Absence of available latrines is a major health problem as well. It is estimated that over one third of slum households
have no access to bathroom facilities, promoting open defecation, which in turn leads to spread of fecal-oral disease
and parasitic infestation.
Education
Primary schooling, through corporation schools, is a free educational system provided by the Government of India.
Further studies, writes researcher Vydyanathan Lakshmanan, are highly dependent on a host of personal factors,
like availability of funds, interest in studies, [and] family situations.7According to the 2001 census, literacy in slums
is only 65%; though slums in Chennai are at 80%, above the national average. The Government of Tamil Nadu has
done a commendable job in terms of promoting the free educational system. However, dropout rates remain high,
and many students do not continue studying beyond their 8th standard. As one resident of Oduma Nagar, a Chennai
slum, says, "we dont have money to send our children to good school and the local school is of no use."8Thus,

though they are literate, they lack suitable educational levels to pursue higher studies the only way to break out of
a vicious cycle of poverty.
Social Problems and Moral Apathy
It is obvious that slums represent a huge economic failure. Sprawling urbanization has failed to produce
corresponding economic growth, thereby leaving many city dwellers behind. However, the problem of slums cannot
only be defined in economic terms. In our own experience working with slum dwellers in India, it is clear that slums
suffer from problems that are beyond economic ones.
Alcoholism is a disease endemic to slums and it leads to moral and economic degradation. Many men take to
consuming alcohol; this limits the amount of their income that can be spent for their family, and it leads to social
diseases of domestic abuse as well as serious health problems. In order to advance any program in slum areas,
alcoholism must be discussed openly and managed.
Finally, apathy is a major contributor to suffering in slums. Slum residents, men and women alike, hail from villages
and come to the cities looking for better work. Viewing themselves as temporary workers they tend to neglect the
importance of economic and social advancement. From medical to educational issues, residents of slums are
unwilling to make changes however simple to improve their lives. This is not something that can or should be
blamed on the residents themselves. However, no program directed towards the social advancement of slum
residents can deny the role of motivation and positive reinforcement.
C. PROBLEMS OF SLUM DWELLERS
Slums are an unhappy reality for our country and many others across the world. Over one billion world inhabitants
live in slums today and the numbers are climbing. The UN estimates that about 1.4 billion people will be occupying
slums by the year 2020. In India the total number of slum dweller totals about 65 million, of which Maharashtra
alone accounts for 11 million. Next comes Andhra Pradesh, with a slum population of 10 million, followed by West
Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, with over 6 million each. The figures are indeed staggering. Slums are a major urban
drawback and a huge hurdle in the countrys development. Within a slum problems are manifold: living conditions
are deplorable, crime rate is high, sanitation is poor, child mortality is high, education levels are low and diseases are
rampant. But the situation has to be tackled and the issues have to be faced. Various solutions have been suggested:
Provision of tenancy rights to slum dwellers in order to ensure that their housing is not infringed upon by
government agencies. Slum dwellers often fear rehabilitation because it affects their access to means of livelihood.
The idea behind ensuring tenure is that once they lose their fear of being evicted, the slum dwellers can work to
improve their quality of life. In due course they can purchase the land they currently inhabit. Building low-cost
residences for slum dwellers so that proper housing can ensure their safety and hygiene. Making clean water
available. Encouraging proper sanitation and waste management. Controlling pollution levels. Providing transport
facilities. Arranging for informal education. Making credit and finance available as per requirement. Introducing new
programmes for income-generation. Providing a platform for sharing ideas, inputs and experiences. However, these
are only broad guidelines and there can be no single uniform model for urban planning which can be used globally.
Slum rehabilitation and upgrading are vital, but each city has certain distinctive political, cultural, environmental and
economic factors which determine the extent to which such rehabilitation is feasible. Hence, proper assessment has
to be made and prospects evaluated before the problem can be addressed. Slum dwellers need to made aware of
the need for improvement in living conditions, and they must readily involve themselves with every phase of the
rehabilitation. Practical and innovative approaches need to be put into practice to integrate slums within the cities.
Governments need to pay more attention to slums and make concerted attempts to address this problem
proactively. One-seventh of the worlds population is in slums right now. It is indeed time for urgent action.