PREFACE

This research is based on the lifestyle and the problems faced by the people of the slums of
Chintadripet. The core objective of this research is to learn about the various problems, the
economic status, the physical conditions and the livelihood challenges faced by the people of the
community. This research also aims towards the betterment of the community, full utilization of
all the resources available and the well-being of the people of that community. The Sustainable
Livelihoods Approach is used by the trainees. SLA is a way to improve understanding of the
livelihoods of poor people. It draws on the main factors that affect poor people's livelihoods and
the typical relationships between these factors. It can be used in planning new development
activities and in assessing the contribution that existing activities have made to sustaining
livelihoods.

The trainees have focused on the physical conditions, economic status and livelihood challenges
of that community. The trainees have made use of certain tools and techniques to collect the
information required about the slum for the research work. The trainees made several visit to the
community and had many interactions and focus group discussions with the people of that
community. The trainees used the technique of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in bringing
out the various problems faced by the people in the community, their lifestyle and also to notify
about the various resources available to the community.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all we would like to thank the Lord Almighty for being with us all the time, without his
will and guidance nothing would have been possible.

We extend our profound gratitude to Dr.AlexanderJesudasan, the principal, Madras Christian

College, Dr. R Belinda, Head of the department ,Social Work (SFS) for giving us this
opportunity and persistent encouragement. We would also like to extend sincere thanks to our
project guide Mr R. Sankara Narayanan for instructing and guiding throughout the research.

We sincerely extend our gratitude to all the people in the slum area especially Mrs. Valarmathi,
volunteer at World Vision for her co-operation. A special mention to Mr. Andrew Sesuraj for his
expert views on the subject.

Last but not the least we would like to thank our family and friends for their support.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.NO CONTENTS PAGE NO

1 Preface

2 Acknowledgement

3 Table of contents

4 List of tables

5 Abstract

6 CHAPTER -1
Introduction & Research Methodology

7 CHAPTER -II
Review of literature

8 CHAPTER –III
Quantitative study

CHAPTER- IV
Qualitative study
1.Case study
9
2.PRA
3.Documentary
4.Photographs

10 CHAPTER –V
Major findings and suggestions

11 CHAPTER –VI
Conclusion
12 Bibliography
13 Appendix
LIST OF TABLES
S.NO CONTENTS PAGE NO:

1 Electricity Supply
2 Problems in the power supply
3 Water supply
4 Frequency of water supply
5 Source of water supply
6 Quality of water
7 Proper drainage facility
8 Toilet facility at residence
9 Alternate options for defecation
10 Bathroom facility at residence
11 Alternate options for bathing
12 Common Garbage collector
13 Kitchen at residence
14 Type of Stove
15 Type of house
16 Environment around residence
17 Provisional /Vegetable shop - Accessible
18 Public transportation facilities
19 Hospitals near your locality
20 Type of hospitals
21 Schools near Locality
22 Type of schools
23 Monthly Income
24 Property owned
25 Type of Property owned
26 Savings habit
27 Mode of savings
28 Amount saved on monthly basis
29 Debts
30 Reason for borrowing money
31 Source for borrowing money
32 Clearing the debts
33 Vehicle
34 Type of vehicle
35 Vehicle maintenance
36 Daily expenditure
 ABSTRACT

People of the slums are facing problems related to their livelihood everyday. The project has
been done on ‘the livelihood challenges’ faced by the people of the slums of Chinthadripet.
Livelihood challenges are the challenges that affect the proper living condition of the people.
The slum of Chinthadripet has some major issues pertaining to the livelihood of the people. It
has been found that alcoholism is prevalent highly in that area and that it has been a major
problem affecting the financial conditions of the people in that slum. Due to this, many families
have been left to be in hunger. Drainage facilities have not been done properly and so it has been
leading to hazardous health issues. Moreover, garbage accumulation is another issue that also has
been causing health hazards. Illiteracy is present in that slum and education more than the
secondary level is very less. Due to this, education about saving and many such necessary
information is not known by all the people, hence leading to the decline in the living conditions
of the people.

The trainees have taken survey to know about the condition of the people there and also to know
about all the resources available in that community. They have also done two Participatory Rural
Appraisal (PRA) techniques to know about the resources and institutions present in that area.
Also many awareness programs and a talk by a resource person on ‘Woman empowerment and
the importance of education’ have been done.

Seminar on ‘The livelihood challenges f

ced by the slum dwellers’ has been conducted and also a documentary on that slum showing the
living condition of the people there has been done by the trainees. A photo gallery showing the
people and the condition of their lives was exhibited by the trainees.

The livelihood challenge faced by the people of the slum of Chinthadripet has been studied and
the possible awareness programs by the trainees have been done to help that community as well.
CHAPTER–I
 INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Slum (Shell of languishing urban masses) communities are defined by poverty, low income,
inadequate living conditions and sub-standard facilities. These communities are usually inhabited
by socially disadvantaged people (people regarded as lower caste). Unlike squatter settlements,
the residents of these slum areas generally own their land and houses, which are very small in
size. The basic characteristics of slums are - dilapidated and infirm housing structures, poor
ventilation, acute over-crowding, and faulty alignment of streets, inadequate lighting, and
paucity of safe drinking water, water logging during rains, absence of toilet facilities and non-
availability of basic physical and social services. The living conditions in slums are usually
unhygienic and contrary to all norms of planned urban growth and are an important factor in
accelerating transmission of various air and water borne diseases.

The sprouting of slums in the urban areas is the direct outcome of greater economic
opportunities available in the cities and towns. The demonstration effect of improved standard of
living prevailing in the urban area has also attracted not only the population from smaller
settlements, but also the rural migrants to almost all the major urban centres resulting in the
emergence of slums even in the heart of the cities. These slums occurred due to various factors,
namely the shortage of developed land being beyond the reach of urban poor; large influx of
population, rural migration to cities in search of jobs and inadequate provision of basic services
and infrastructural facilities in the urban areas.

The trainees are incorporating sustainable livelihood framework as a part of research .According
to the sustainable livelihood framework certain interventions are done to improve the standards
of living of the community , the result on the livelihood assets are classified as

1. Human Capital
2. Social Capital
3. Financial Capital
4. Physical Capital
5. Natural Capital
 The trainees adapt this sustainable livelihood framework for accessing the above
mentioned capitals in the community.

Sustainable Livelihood Framework

Note:The part inside the box is taken as the basic framework for study.

Statement of Problem:

 Lack of basic sanitation and hygiene facilities: such as drinking water, proper
housing, and drainage and excreta disposal services.
 Excessive alcohol consumption and drug abuse
 Health hazards due to the undisposed heap of garbage in the locality were people
are affected frequently by diseases such as dengue, malaria and gastro intestinal
infection
 Improper Electrical Supply
  School dropouts are primary and secondary education level.

Need and importance of the study:

 To study the distribution of wealth and income in the slum

 To study about socio economic development such as literacy , level of
employment , financial status etc
 To study about the different livelihood challenges faced by the slum dwellers with
the help of sustainable livelihood framework.

Objectives:

General Objectives:

 To study the socio economic issues in the slum of Chindradripet-chennai.

 To understand the economical status of people residing in the slum
 To study the socio demographic and economic details of slum dwellers

Specific Objectives:

 To understand the complex and interrelated challenges the slum people are confronted
with.
 To analyze the various social and psychological issues of the slum people regarding to
the livelihood challenges.
 To create awareness about the importance of sanitation, the importance of education, the
need to create a cleaner, safer environment.

Conceptual Definition:
Livelihood: A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social
resources) and activities required for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can
cope with and recover from stress and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets
both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base. (Chambers &
Conway, 1991)
Slum: The United Nations Expert Group Meeting in Nairobi in October 2002, which states that a
slum combines to various extents, the following physical and legal characteristics (excluding the
more difficult social dimensions):
 Inadequate access to safe water
 Inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure
 Poor structural quality of housing
 Overcrowding
 Insecure residential status (resulting in arbitrary demolition of property)

Operational Definition:

Livelihood: A person's livelihood refers to their "means of securing the basic necessities -food,
water, shelter and clothing- of life". Livelihood is defined as a set of activities, involving
securing water, food, fodder, medicine, shelter, clothing and the capacity to acquire above
necessities working either individually or as a group by using endowments (both human and
material) for meeting the requirements of the self and his/her household on a sustainable basis
with dignity. The activities are usually carried out repeatedly.
Slum:Slums are characterised as places of dilapidated and infirm housing structures, poor
ventilation, acute over-crowding, and faulty alignment of streets, inadequate lighting, and
paucity of safe drinking water, water logging during rains, absence of toilet facilities and non-
availability of basic physical and social services. The living conditions in slums are usually
unhygienic and contrary to all norms of planned urban growth and are an important factor in
accelerating transmission of various air and water borne diseases.

Limitations:
The researchers faced difficulty in getting the respondents to portray the exact situation and the
challenges faced by them living in the area as many feared being confronted by political leaders
or were too afraid to record the actual status fearing being telecasted in the media .The
researchers felt that the information by few respondents were contradictory when asked for a
documentary shooting compared to the earlier statements given while casual interaction by the
researchers for the purpose of rappo building. Also the distance to reach the slum of reference
was a too far and had only one bus from Egmore railway station to reach Chintadripet .Since
most of the data was collected between 10 am- 2 pm it was hard to meet male respondents as
compared to the female respondents except a very few teens and middle aged men at the locality.
There were hardly any space to conduct street play or to organize any meeting since most of the
time the day care centre is used as a cooking spot by the localites and the street were too
congested to conduct any program .The government school nearby was closed due to rains and
for quarterly holidays due to which the researchers could not use the school ground for
organising talk or for performing street theatre for creating awareness on ill effects of alcohol
consumption and about the importance of self help groups .

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Field of study:
The field of study is the slum at Arunachalam Street, Chintadripet. Chintadripet which is located
in Chennai was once called as chinna thari pettai because of its novelty weaving .Later it’s
modified as Chintadripet for colloquial usage. It’s one of the oldest places in Chennai, though
it’s considered to be formed in 1735. The first rail line of the Indian sub-continent came up near
Chintadripet Bridge in Madras Presidency in 1836 as an experimental line .Now; the local place
is covered with foreground of slum connecting from Riche Street to Chintadripet railway station.
The slum contains nearly 350 families residing in an area of 1 km ranging from Chintadripet to
Riche Street. The local area has 2 petty shops, 4 grocery shops, since the street welcomes all
Indian festivals it has an Amman koil , St. Zion’s church and a Jain temple which is currently
under reconstruction .
Each house provides a space only for two persons. All the houses have a s television and other
electrical appliances given by the ex and the ruling government. Houses were 2m in width, 3m in
length and about 7 feet in height. The type of houses mostly we found were brick with asbestos
and thatched roof. One Public toilet, a government school and a municipal office are located
within the slum; there is a police station and an Indian bank in the opposite lane to the
Arunachalam Street.
The problems faced by the people are improper drainage system which leads to water stagnation
when it rains heavily or when there is a block in the drainage pipeline, one public toilet used by
all 350 families which is often found vandalised and makes it difficult to be used by the ladies
and children residing in the area which subsequently pushes them to defecate outdoor, low
voltage current supply which makes usage of electrical appliances highly impossible, unsealed
electrical units which makes children vulnerable to accidents, no awareness regarding family
planning and almost every family has 3 to 4 children .Almost 90% of men are addicted to alcohol
or use drugs in daily basis which is the primary reason for domestic violence towards women
and children .There is absolutely no practice e of saving money from their monthly/ daily income
since majority on the income is spend on alcohol / drug consumption .the community hall which
was once constructed by the government and used by the people as social meeting point and for
marriage celebrations in the area is now used to dump garbage . The local people used the
garbage area to smoke /consume alcohol and drugs and even to defecate amidst them. Since there
is no enough space available people cook in the middle of the roads despite the drainage water
and the swampy soil oozing through the ground.

Details of Pilot Study:

Day: 28/08/2013
Place: Chintadripet
The trainee and the co –trainees visited Chintadripet to determine whether the slum at the
Arunachalam Street would be the appropriate reference spot to study about our topic “The
livelihood challenges faced by the slum dwellers “. As the trainee and the co trainees entered the
Arunachalam lane we could see two corporation pumps and the ladies living in the area were
busy filling their barracks with corporation water for drinking and household usage. We
observed drainage water seepage through the streets and women were cooking admits them .The
houses which was mostly built with bricks with asbestos and thatched roof were closely netted
without insufficient ventilation. We observed that the houses were too small to hardly
accommodate even two people and had no visible toilet attached.
On interviewing one of the elderly women named Sita who is been residing in the area for more
than sixty years spoke about the facilities in the area .She said there is constant low voltage shifts
due to which they are unable to use the electrical appliances such as TV, Mixy, fan etc which
was provided by the government, She said as soon as they switch on TV they could hardly watch
for a minute and the power retracts shutting down the telecast. She then spoke about the garbage
dump at the 2nd Arunachalam street which adjacent to their lane. She said it was once a
community centre but now it’s been used as a garbage dumping area since there are no garbage
collectors allocated for their area by the government to collect the garbage on a daily basis .She
said that is the sole reason for people suffering from dengue and malaria often is because of the
dump which serves as a breeding place for the mosquitoes and other worms .She added saying
that during rainy season the worms breeding in the garbage are washed away by rain water and
enters all the houses making survival an ordeal for the localites. According to the local people
their efforts to eradicate the community centre was turned futile due to political interference. The
trainees observed children and men defecating on the streets and also the electrical units were
left unsealed and the localites warned us not to go too near the units since there are chances of
getting electrocuted when touched.
On questioning about what they do for living on an average , they said that mostly men work as
auto rickshaw/ truck drivers , fishermen , painters or as coolies and women work as house maids
in the neighbourhood houses and ladies hostels .
Key observations:
Since the trainees observed that the people are suffering from improper drainage facilities,
vandalised single public toilet, garbage dump within the slum and unclean drinking water
Chintadripet would be the appropriate location to study about the livelihood challenges faced by
the slum dwellers.
Research Design:
The group conducted the research using descriptive research design. Descriptive Research
Design is a scientific method, which involves observing and describing the behaviour of an
individual without influencing the individual in anyway.
The reason for descriptive research design is because it is specific and focuses on particular
aspects or the dimensions of the problem.

Sampling Method:

Sample Design:
Convenience sampling is also known as grab, opportunity, accidental or haphazard sampling.
With this method, the researcher uses subjects that are easy to reach. As the name describes, the
researcher chooses subjects because of convenience. Some examples of convenience sampling
are when students use their classmates in a research study or a television reporter interviews
people on the street.

In research methods, there are two primary classifications for sampling methods:non- probability
and probability. With probability sampling methods, all possible subjects out of a population
have some chance of being included in the sample. Researchers can even calculate the
mathematical probability of one of them being selected. They can also calculate sampling error,
which is the degree to which the sample might differ from the actual population.

Convenience sampling is a nonprobability method. This means that subjects are chosen in a
nonrandom manner, and some members of the population have no chance of being included.
With nonprobability sampling, researchers have no way of calculating how well their sample
represents the population as a whole. In general, probability sampling is considered to be more
stringent and accurate than nonprobability sampling, but it is not always feasible.

When time or cost is a factor, some researchers might use convenience sampling. It is often used
in pilot or exploratory studies when the researcher wants an inexpensive and quick way to
discern whether further research is warranted. Many social science studies use convenience
sampling with students, paid volunteers or clients.

Sample size:

The sample size is 50 people living in the slum of Chintadripet.

Tools of Data collection:

Interview Method: Questionnaires were prepared by the trainees on the various livelihood
challenges to interview the respondents living in the slum of Chintadripet on the problems face.

Since most of the respondents were illiterate the trainees used the interview method to fill up the
questionnaire on the desired topics regarding the livelihood challenges faced by the slum
dwellers.

Focused Group Discussion: The trainees also used Focused Group discussion session with
sixteen participants from the slums to get an insight about the common problems and about the
different questions under the various capitals of sustainable livelihood framework such as
follows:

Human capital: Skills, knowledge, health and ability to work

Social capital: Social resources, including informal networks, membership of formalized groups
and relationships of trust that facilitate cooperation and economic opportunities

Natural capital: Natural resources such as land, soil, water, forests and fisheries

Physical capital: Basic infrastructure, such as roads, water & sanitation, schools, and producer
goods, including tools, livestock and equipment

Financial capital:Financial resources including savings, credit, and income from employment,
trade and remittances.

PRA Techniques:

Venn diagram:Venn diagram is a tool to reveal the relationship between those service providing
entities and their significance. First of all, the community must understand the service providing
institutes, organizations, and individuals in the area. Then the Venn diagram prepares based on
two rules as the relationship is inversely related to the distance and the significance is
proportionally related to the size of the denoted circle. Accordingly, the circle (which represents
the service providing entities) arranged as a Venn diagram.

Wealth Ranking:Also known as wellbeing ranking or vulnerability analysis, a technique for the
rapid collection and analysis of specific data on social stratification at the community level. This
visual tool minimizes literacy and language differences of participants as they consider factors
such as ownership of or uses rights to productive assets, lifecycle stage of members of the
productive unit, relationship of the productive unit to locally powerful people, availabilityof
labour, and indebtedness.

Source of Data Collection:

Primary Data: It consists of data which was collected through the questionnaires filled by the
respondents.

Secondary Data:It comprises of data which was collected through books, journals,
articles,magazines and websites.

Pre Testing:

A group of ten people were given tentative questionnaire initially and the trainees studied the
authenticity of the data collected to make further changes if required .it was done before the
dates of data collection and there were no changes made.

Organization of the study:

 Chapter 1:

Introduction and Methodology used for the research

 Chapter 2:
Review of Literature chapter talks about the views of different articles and authors about the
topic “Livelihood challenges faced in the slum“

 Chapter 3:

Quantitative Study is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or
data that can be transformed into useable statistics. This chapter includes tables to draw
inference data for the study.

 Chapter 4:

Qualitative research as attemptingto understand the unique interactions in a particular

situation. The purpose of understanding is not necessarily to predict what might occur, but
rather to understand in depth the characteristics of the situation and the meaning brought
by participants and what is happening to them at the moment.Qualitative study chapter
includes case studies, Participatory Rural Appraisal,Focused group Discussion and
photographs.

 Chapter 5:

Deals with the Main Findings and suggestions for the study

 Chapter 6:

It contains the summary and conclusion of the research .This chapter is followed by
appendix and bibliography
CHAPTER – II
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A study on “Improving health of children in urban slums through an integrated model

based approach- a case study from Chennai ByMr S. M. Balasubramaniam” shows that the
research was carried by taking 204 families for evaluation with 350 children below the age of
five. The survey revealed that 88% of them used safe garbage disposal and 95% of them had
household sanitation facilities. Only 24% of the children below the age five had water borne
morbidity in the past one year (2006) and there were no vector borne diseases. 71% of the
eligible couples followed some contraception. Mean duration of exclusive breast feeding was 7
months and the average was 15months. All these changes had happened after improving the
environmental and health conditions of the community. The research reveals that integrated
model based approach based on the principles of primary health care works in urban slums with
effective community participation.

What is integrated model based approach?

Integrated model based approach refers to application of more than two models under a single
framework and check if the model holds good for the community. It aims at providing an
anticipated solution for a problem and tracking the changes that has taken place due to such
incorporation and analyzing if the framework has been effective in improving the livelihood
standards of the community. Integrated model based approach has been proved to hold good in
this research project. However the effectiveness of the framework can be analyzed based on the
various criteria of livelihood in a slum.

Partner organizations arranged the finances and the health aspects were taken care by their
organization. In addition, the trust also gave inputs for the better environment and community
development. There were periodic meetings to review the progress and discuss the future plans.
The area had 10 streets and for each street a selected female volunteer acted as a link worker for
delivering the services and getting messages/feedback. The following interventions were done:

Environment: This involved development of a proper garbage collecting system, sanitary latrines
and rainwater harvesting system. With the help of the government officials and people’s
motivation, every household got potable water supply. Garbage was segregated at the source
according to its degradability and then removed from the area by vehicles. Drainage system and
household toilets were built with contributions from the people.

Healthcare: Health clinics were conducted thrice every week initially and subsequently
decreased to two per week and one per week. Every week children with malnutrition were
followed up, treated for infections and mothers were given nutritional counseling. Adolescent
girls were also counseled periodically about growth and development, menstrual hygiene and
mental well-being.

A study was done on the article “Migration and living conditions in urban slums:
implications for food security by Tahera Akter”. Migration to urban areas is a regular
phenomenon but climate induced displacement forced to migrate to cities over the recent years is
a matter of concern. Increased frequency and severity of natural disasters by climate change over
the past recent years are not only displacing people physically but also exposing to enhanced
poverty by threatening their livelihoods temporarily and permanently. Growing number of
people rush to city’s slums creates urban crisis. Climate change threatens peoples’ access to food
as they become socioeconomically susceptible.

Displaced people living in urban slums are in search of better and secure life. But urban slums
located mostly in low lying environmentally hazardous area coupled with inadequate facilities
like food, shelter, sanitation, health care make their life even worse. Growing number of people
in urban slums over the recent past creates extra pressure on existing systems and challenge to
government development activities like slum development and poverty reduction strategy. This
paper depicts socioeconomic condition of slum dwellers and their consumption pattern, while it
has been found that majority of them can’t afford nutritious food which is expensive to them.
Planned migration and secured socioeconomic factors are suggested through this paper to lessen
exposure to further poverty and food insecurity of urban poor.

A Socio-Economic Survey was conducted on the “Nutritional Status of Slum Children of

Mumbai”. A Socio-Economic Survey IN June 1993, the authors and a group of students
conducted a sample survey of households in a slum settlement beside the Indira Gandhi Institute
of Development Research in Gorsgaon, Mumbai. As part of this socio-economic survey of
households, they collected anthropometric data on all children in the surveyed households who
were five years of age or below. These anthropometric data included information on the height,
weight and mid arm circumference of each child. In this paper, they present a brief account of
the socioeconomic characteristics of households in the surveyed settlement, and attempt to
identify the prevalence of under nutrition among children using the available anthropometric
data.

A study on “Socio-economic status of slum dwellers with special reference to women:

geographical investigation of Kolhapur slum” shows that the individuals or population’s
living standard, life style and all over development and progress. The education, occupation are
the most important elements in the study of socio- economic status of population. Besides these
elements age, caste are also taken into consideration. Slum is an unhygienic place for human
settlements. It is the human settlement in diverts condition or situation. It is also a adjustment
with nature and compromise with life’s needs for survive in worst condition. It is because of the
vicious circle of poverty. Poverty is an un-separateable part of slum dwellers. So the slum
population is backward socially and economically. Poverty affects the health, education,
nutrition, birth and death ratio, sex ratio, life expectancy, the socio-economic status. Due to
poverty economic status is lower, so education level is low, unskilled or low skills, so the socio-
economic status of slum dwellers is low. To improve this lower economic conditions slum
women are earning and try to support family income. Some are the house headed women. So
they have needed to earn. They are lower educated unskilled, have poor economic condition so
they perform the work as per their capacity and ability which provide low income and hence the
socio-economic status is low. Therefore, there is a need to study the socio-economic status of
slum women
IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 10, Issue 5 (May. - Jun.
2013), PP 12-24 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org

A study on “Socio Economic Conditions of Urban Slum Dwellers in Kannur Municipality -

Sufaira.C”,Research scholar, Department of Economics, Central University of Kerala,
Kasaragod, Kerala, India shows that improving quality of life in the slum is one of the
development goals for new millennium. The existence of slums is essentially a manifestation of
poverty, along with the economic and industrial development-slums will continue to exist and
grow further. The experience of Kerala shows that the condition of the people can be improved
even at low levels of economic development through appropriate public action for social
provisioning and redistribution. Kerala has been able to provide for the basic needs of most of its
citizen. This is revealed by comparative indicators of health, education and demographic
transition. These average indicators hide the experience of communities that have been left out of
the development process such as the fisher folk and the tribal’s. Increasing numbers of slums
constitute a major challenge to development. The result emphasizes the need for measures to
improve the physical environment of the dwelling places like basic amenities of toilets, proper
drainage, sewerage system and adequate water supply

An article on “India Slums: 1 In 6 Indian City Dwellers Live In Conditions 'Unfit For
Human Habitation'- Huff Post- World Sept 2, 2013 By Kay Johnson” in his blog depicts the
low standards of living in Mumbai slums

About one in six Indian city residents lives in an urban slum with unsanitary conditions that are
"unfit for human habitation," according to the first complete census of India's vast slum
population.

More than 40 percent of households in Mumbai, India's financial capital and largest city with 19
million people are located in overcrowded shantytowns where most residents are squatting
illegally and many have little access to basic sanitation.

While the report described open sewers and poverty, it also shows that many slum residents have
cellphones and televisions in their shacks and have made do with a lack of government
infrastructure by rigging up elaborate, mostly illegal, systems to supply electricity.
Life in Mumbai's slums has been portrayed in the Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire"
and last year's bestselling book "Behind the Beautiful Forevers," but until now India has never
had a complete census of its slum dwellers.

There was an incomplete head count in 2001 that only included the country's largest slums. In
the 2011 census, survey takers took pains to visit every shantytown – they counted 108,000 of
them – and also made detailed records of their lives, according to the report Thursday by census
commissioner C. Chandramouli. Detailed information from India's latest census is still trickling
out.

The census report identified 13.8 million households – about 64 million people – located in city
slums nationwide. That's 17.4 percent of all urban households, which account for roughly one-
third of India's 1.2 billion people.

"A slum, for the purpose of census, has been defined as residential areas where dwellings are
unfit for human habitation by reasons of dilapidation, overcrowding ... lack of ventilation, light
or sanitation facility," Chandramouli said.

New Delhi, the Indian capital, had a relatively low 15 percent of households in slums, while
major cities Kolkata and Chennai had 30 percent and 29 percent respectively. High-tech center
Bangalore had only 9 percent of its households in slums.

Nationwide, more than one-third of slum homes surveyed had no indoor toilets and 64 percent
were not connected to sewerage systems.

About half of the households lived in only one room or shared with another family.

A Socio-economic study conducted to improve basic services, housing has revealed that “By
March, slum survey in city to be complete- CHENNAI, December 15, 2012”.

A socio-economic survey of city slums conducted by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board
(TNSCB) may be completed by March next year. The survey was commissioned as part of Rajiv
AwasYojana (RAY), a scheme that envisages slum-free cities. Begun in 2010, the survey
includes details of the members of every house, their age, marital status and source of income
among other factors, a TNSCB official said “Once the survey is done, they will verify the facts
once again for accuracy, by random sampling. Then, they will prepare a slum-free city plan of
action, forward it first to State-level committees for approval and then to the government of India
for a final sanction. Once they get the sanction, a detailed project report will be prepared and the
execution of work such as improvement of basic services and housing will be carried out in all
the slums,” he said.

The survey was simultaneously commissioned in nine other cities as well — Tirunelveli,
Madurai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Vellore, Tiruppur and Tuticorin. While the survey
has been completed in Tirunelveli, Tiruchi and Madurai, it is nearing completion in Coimbatore.

Residents of slums in the city though, are less than happy with the survey. M. Dileema, who
lives in a slum in Adyar said, “The issue is, whenever people come to collect details, they never
bother to tell them what the survey is about. If such surveys will improve their access to basic
services and are not meant to evict them from their residences, then they should clearly explain
the motive of the survey. All they ask for is improved quality of living.”

Ministry of health and family welfare Gov. of India conducted a “National family health
survey India 2005-06 health and living conditions in eight Indian cities - kamala Gupta,
Fred Arnold, H. Lhungdim.” Before the 2001 Census, NSSO collected information on the
economic condition of slum dwellers in two rounds of its survey, i.e., the 31st round in 1976-
77and the 49th round in 1993. NSSO also conducted a survey of slums in 2002. Along with
providing information on socioeconomic and living conditions in slums, these surveys have
provided estimates of the number of slums and slum households for India as a whole and for
states and selected cities. According to the 2002 National Sample Survey (NSS), an estimated
8.23 million households in urban areas of the country were living in slums. However, unlike
household surveys, where household information is collected from a responsible household
member, these surveys collect information from knowledgeable persons in the community on
households and their living conditions and on socioeconomic characteristics.
Census of India 2001 has adopted the definition of ‘Slum’ areas as follows:
  All areas noticed as ‘Slum’ by State/Local Government and UT Administration under any
Act
 All areas recognized as ‘Slum’ by State/Local Government and UT Administration which
have not been formally notified as slum under any Act
 A compact area of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly built
congested tenements, in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure
and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities

An article published on “15th Dec 2003 on “Slums in Chennai: A profile by Dr.

C.Chandramouli, I.A.S” (Director of Census operations, Tamilnadu)”

According to the survey, A little more than one fourth of the Chennai population lives in Slums.
Slums in Chennai are greatly disadvantaged as far as quality of housing and availability of basic
amenities like drinking water, electricity, latrines, drainage, non-polluting fuels and the like. Any
improvement in the standards of public health will have to start in the slums. Some of the areas
of focus have been listed in this paper. The agenda is long but will have to be addressed in all
sincerity.

The availability of latrines is as important indicator of the state of sanitation. This in turn is
reflected in the spread of several diseases especially those relating to the gastro-intestinal tract
and skin etc. More than a third of the household (34%) in slims had no latrines. A significant
proportion of households in non-slum areas (12%) too did not have this facility. This results in
open defecation and consequently the spread of a host of diseases. The Provision of latrines
would have to figure very high on the agenda of health planners.

Slums are considerably disadvantaged as far as sources of drinking water are concerned. Hand
pumps (42%) are main source of drinking water in slums. Tap water is available to 31% and a
sizeable proportion (20%) is serviced by “Other sources”. In non-slum areas Tap (48%) and hand
pumps (31%) are the primary sources of drinking water.

Electricity has become a basic need of population especially in urban areas. The census however
reveals that even in the metropolis, the satisfaction of this need is not universal. While electricity
is available to 97% of the non-slum population, only 79% of the slum population has this facility.
1% of the households reported no source of lighting, while 20% depended on Kerosene and other
oils for their lighting needs.

An article on “The effect of slum upgrading on slum dwellers' health, quality of life and
social wellbeing First published: January 31, 2013”, shows the following results. Low and
middle income countries (LMIC) are home to over 90% of the one billion people living in slums.
Urban slums describe parts of cities where living conditions are exceptionally poor. The slums
lack basic services and often have many people crowded into small living spaces. Slums can
provide shelter and proximity to jobs, and communities are often social and supportive.
However, poor living conditions and health are closely related, and illnesses such as diarrhea ,
malaria, cholera and respiratory diseases are common.

Slum upgrading basically involves improving the physical environment, for example the water
supply, sanitation, waste collection, electricity, drainage, road paving and street lighting.
Additional strategies may be included to improve access to health, education and social services,
increase residents’ income and secure legal rights to the land.

They found five main studies with suitable methods for examining the effect of slum upgrading
on health, quality of life and social wellbeing (for example poverty). Nine supporting studies
were also included, which used methods that could indicate associations between interventions
and outcomes but could not assess whether interventions caused the effect. Only one main study
had a low risk of bias, with the rest having a mixed or high risk of bias. The majority of
supporting studies had a high risk of bias, meaning their methods had several limitations that
made the study results unreliable. In addition, the studies measured different interventions and
outcomes, making it difficult to compare results.

Overall, there was limited but consistent evidence to suggest that slum upgrading may reduce
diarrhoea in slum dwellers and their water‐related expenses. There were mixed results for
whether slum upgrading reduced parasitic infections, general measures of communicable
diseases, financial poverty and unemployment outcomes. There was very little information on
other health or social outcomes, or which types of interventions were most beneficial. Some of
the studies asked slum dwellers for their views and their experiences of slum upgrading
interventions. They suggested a number of reasons why facilities were not used as intended and
which may have reduced the benefits.

Future research, with improved study designs and common outcome measures, is needed to
determine how best to improve the conditions of existing slums and to offer the most benefit to
the health, quality of life and social wellbeing of slum dwellers.

Slums are densely populated, neglected parts of cities where housing and living conditions are
exceptionally poor. In situ slum upgrading, at its basic level, involves improving the physical
environment of the existing area, such as improving and installing basic infrastructure like water,
sanitation, solid waste collection, electricity, storm water drainage, access roads and footpaths,
and street lighting, as well as home improvements and securing land tenure.

The objectives of the research were to explore the effects of slum upgrading strategies involving
physical environment and infrastructure interventions on the health, quality of life and socio‐
economic wellbeing of urban slum dwellers in low and middle income countries (LMIC). Where
reported, data were collected on the perspectives of slum dwellers regarding their needs,
preferences for and satisfaction with interventions received.

They searched for published and unpublished studies in 28 bibliographic databases including
multidisciplinary (for example Scopus) and specialist databases covering health, social science,
urban planning, environment and LMIC topics. Snowballing techniques included searching
websites, journal handsearching, contacting authors and reference list checking. Searches were
not restricted by language or publication date.

They included studies examining the impact of slum upgrading strategies involving physical
environment or infrastructure improvements (with or without additional co‐interventions) on the
health, quality of life and socio‐economic wellbeing of LMIC urban slum dwellers. Randomised
controlled trials (RCTs), controlled before and after studies (CBAs) and interrupted time series
(ITS) were eligible for the main analysis. Controlled studies with only post‐intervention data
(CPI) and uncontrolled before and after (UBA) studies were included in a separate narrative to
examine consistency of results and to supplement evidence gaps in the main analysis.
Two authors independently extracted data and assessed risk of bias for each study. Differences
between the included study interventions and outcomes precluded meta‐analysis so the results
were presented in a narrative summary with illustrative harvest plots. The body of evidence for
outcomes within the main analysis was assessed according to GRADE as very low, low,
moderate or high quality.

They identified 10,488 unique records, with 323 screened as full text. Five studies were included
for the main analysis: one RCT with a low risk, two CBAs with a moderate risk and two CBAs
with a high risk of bias. Three CBAs evaluated multicomponent slum upgrading strategies. Road
paving only was evaluated in one RCT and water supply in one CBA. A total of 3453 households
or observations were included within the four studies reporting sample sizes.

Most health outcomes in the main studies related to communicable diseases, for which the body
of evidence was judged to be low quality. One CBA with a moderate risk of bias found that
diarrhoeal incidence was reduced in households which received water connections from a private
water company (risk ratio (RR) 0.53; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.27 to 1.04) and the severity
of diarrhoeal episodes (RR 0.48; 95% CI 0.19 to 1.22). There was no effect for duration of
diarrhoea. Road paving did not result in changes in parasitic infections or sickness in one RCT.
After multicomponent slum upgrading, claims for a waterborne disease as opposed to a non‐
waterborne disease reduced (RR 0.64; 95% CI 0.27 to 0.98) in one CBA with a high risk of bias
but there was no change in sanitation‐related mortality in a CBA with a moderate risk of bias.

The majority of socio‐economic outcomes reported within the main studies related to financial
poverty, for which the body of evidence was of very low quality. Results were mixed amongst
the main studies; one RCT and two CBAs reported no effect on the income of slum dwellers
following slum upgrading. One further CBA found significant reduction in monthly water
expenditure (mean difference (MD) ‐17.11 pesos; 95% CI ‐32.6 to ‐1.62). One RCT also showed
mixed results for employment variables, finding no effect on unemployment levels but increased
weekly worked hours (MD 4.68; 95% CI ‐0.46 to 9.82) and lower risk of residents intending to
migrate for work (RR 0.78; 95% CI 0.60 to 1.01).

There was no evidence available to assess the impact of slum upgrading on non‐communicable
diseases or social capital. Maternal and perinatal conditions, infant mortality, nutritional
deficiencies, injuries, self‐reported quality of life, education and crime were evaluated in one
study each.

Nine supporting studies were included that measured varying outcomes (6794 households or
observations within eight studies reporting sample sizes). One CPI evaluated cement flooring
only while three UBAs and five CPIs evaluated multicomponent slum upgrading strategies. All
studies but one had a high risk of bias.

The studies reinforced main study findings for diarrhoea incidence and water‐related
expenditure. Findings for parasitic infections and financial poverty were inconsistent with the
main studies. In addition, supporting studies reported a number of disparate outcomes that were
not evaluated in the main studies.

Five supporting studies included some limited information on slum dweller perspectives. They
indicated the importance of appropriate siting of facilities, preference for private facilities,
delivering synergistic interventions together, and ensuring that infrastructure was fit for purpose
and systems were provided for cleaning, maintenance and repair.

A high risk of bias within the included studies, heterogeneity and evidence gaps prevent firm
conclusions on the effect of slum upgrading strategies on health and socio‐economic wellbeing.
The most common health and socio‐economic outcomes reported were communicable diseases
and indicators of financial poverty. There was a limited but consistent body of evidence to
suggest that slum upgrading may reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases and water‐related
expenditure. The information available on slum dwellers’ perspectives provided some insight to
barriers and facilitators for successful implementation and maintenance of interventions.

The availability and use of reliable, comparable outcome measures to determine the effect of
slum upgrading on health, quality of life and socio‐economic wellbeing would make a useful
contribution to new research in this important area. Given the complexity in delivering slum
upgrading, evaluations should look to incorporate process and qualitative information alongside
quantitative effectiveness data to determine which particular interventions work (or don’t work)
and for whom.
The “2010 UN REPORT on SLUMS” has defined what exactly a slum is. A slum, as defined
by the United Nations agency UN-Habitat, is a run-down area of a city characterized by
substandard housing, squalor, and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations,
the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the
developing world between 1990 and 2005.wever, due to rising population, and the rise especially
in urban populations, the number of slum dwellers is rising. One billion people worldwide live in
slum and the figure is projected to grow to 2 billion by 2030.

Although their characteristics vary between geographic regions, they are usually inhabited by the
very poor or socially disadvantaged. Slum buildings vary from simple shacks to permanent and
well-maintained structures. Most slums lack clean water, electricity, sanitation and other basic
services. The rising phenomenon of slum tourism has western tourists paying to take guided
tours of slums. This tourism niche is operating in almost all major slums around the world,
including in Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Kieran, and Jakarta. The origin of the word slum is thought
to be the Irish phrase 'S loom é (pron. slum age) meaning "it is a bleak or destitute place.

The characteristics and politics associated with slums vary from place to place. Slums are usually
characterized by urban decay, high rates of poverty, illiteracy and unemployment or lack of
personal/community land ownership.

They are commonly seen as "breeding grounds" for social problems such as crime, drug
addiction, alcoholism, high rates of mental illness, and suicide.

In many poor countries they exhibit high rates of disease due to unsanitary conditions,
malnutrition, and lack of basic health care A more complete definition of these can be found in a
2003 UN report titled The Challenges of Slums, which examines both the negative and positive
aspects of life.

Slum upgrading consists of physical, social, economic, organizational and environmental

improvements to slums undertaken cooperatively and locally among citizens, community groups,
businesses and local authorities.
The main objective of slum upgrading is to alleviate the poor living standards of slum dwellers.
Many slums lack basic local authority services such as provision of safe drinking water,
sanitation, wastewater and solid waste management. Slum upgrading is used mainly for projects
inspired by or engaged by the World Bank and similar agencies. It is considered by the
proponents a necessary and important component of urban development in the developing
countries. However, many people do not believe that slum upgrading is successful. They point to
the difficulties in providing the necessary resources either in a way that is beneficial to the slum-
dwellers or in a way that has long-term effectiveness.

The general objective is all about the socio economic problems and livelihood on slums. The
specific objective for this study is all about sanitation, health and hygiene, water scarcity, alcohol
and socio economic problems.

A study on the “Survey in the slums conducted by SukanyaAcharya” revealed the following.
She volunteered for the ‘No Poor’ project (titled ‘Exploring the dimensions and dynamics of
Indian urban poverty’, Kolkata chapter) initiated by the Centre for Development Economics
(CDE), Delhi School of Economics. The project sought to identify key mechanisms that explain
the persistence and exacerbation of poverty altered by the insertion of developing countries into
the globalisation process, including trade aid, FDI and migration, and by the growing inter-
dependence of economies.

In this Kolkata slum survey they interviewed people from Dumdum Road to Metiabruz and from
Beliaghata to Sovabazar asking them about their socio-economic life and their demographic
structures, and informing them about the rights they were entitled to but were not aware of.
There was obviously a marked distinction between them and them, and their self-consciousness
acted as a deterrent. As days went by, they slowly became sensitive to the environment. Earlier
she believed that it was not very useful to help the poor financially; rather they should be helped
to elevate themselves by working. But after meeting a person who had liver tumor and was
denied a bed in the government hospital, she was forced to change her views.But they also
stumbled upon some queer contradictions. they interviewed people who denied taking tobacco
even as they kept having it in front of them.
There were people who had good jobs, owned land, but still stayed in the slum so that they could
reap economic benefits from the land. On the other hand, they also met people who had been
starving for days. She met a girl who spent days making earrings and selling them in the
neighborhood. She gifted her a pair. Living across her ramshackle settlement was a person who
owned a Ninja bike. According to him, people live to fulfill their passions. However, neither he
nor any other person living in the slum thought it was a strange contradiction. The sultry days of
June went by as they were busy filling the questionnaire and consulting their mentors. However,
the implications of poverty are sinking in every day.

(Suk Anya is an Economics Honors student at Presidency University, Kolkata.)

(This article was published on July 24, 2013)

An article on “The Development of Slums in Freetown” published in the Business line shows
that a number of reasons has contributed to the development of slums in Freetown. Slums are a
strategy employed by the urban poor in meeting their housing needs. One of the strategies that
have been used to this effect is the building of low quality rental housing units by the urban poor.
The population of Freetown has increased considerably within the last 20 years. In 1963
Freetown had a population of 127,000 this increased to 276,476 in 1974, then 469,776, by 1985.
According to the most recent population census, the current population of Freetown is just under
a 1,000,000. This increase in population has not been met by an increase in the number of
dwelling units for those on low income in Freetown. The development of approximately 240
units of low cost housing by the government has been far too inadequate in meeting the housing
needs of the increased population within the last 40 years.
The formal private sector developers have done nothing to assist in the provision of affordable
housing for the urban poor. The prices of properties that are being constructed by this sector are
definitely not within the reach of the urban poor. It is not unusual for rental prices within this
sector to be quoted in US dollars. Rental prices are from around $100.00 per month. Houses in
this sector are being sold for at least $50,000.

Slums are one of the challenges that governments in most developing and the least developed
countries are presently faced with. Unfortunately for Sierra Leone and in particular Freetown,
this is not a stagnant problem, but an increasing one. Slums are on the increase, not only in terms
of numbers but also in relation to the complexities involved in trying to see how best this social
challenge should be addressed. In most African countries, housing has never been given
significant priority compared to other social issues such as health and education.
It is therefore hoped that this report on slums and informal settlements would not only provide
useful information on the general conditions of slums in Freetown, but also acts as a focal point
for all key parties on how the lives of slum dwellers and inhabitants of informal settlements can
be improved in line with Target 11 of Goal 7 of The Millennium Development Goals. Any
contribution towards the achievement of this goal also supports other Millennium Development
goals such as a reduction in the spread of AIDs and Malaria, greatly reducing infant and child
mortality. Successful slum upgrading programs can reduce infant and child mortality rates by
producing acceptable living conditions in which children are less likely to contact fatal illnesses.
In some of the worst slums it has been suggested that an improvement in housing conditions
would result in a fall of up to 80% in infant mortality within the given area.
Living in an improved environment enables those on low income to live healthy lives and
increases their economic productivity.

Characteristics of Slums

 Lack of basic services and poor access

This is often cited as one of the main characteristics of slums. This includes lack or
inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This is a very common feature of the
slums around Freetown. Such conditions are better in some areas compared to others.

 Sub-standard housing and inadequate structure

Slum areas are associated with a high number of sub-standard housing usually constructed
using non permanent materials such as plastic and straw roofs. Floors are usually made of
earth. Poverty amongst slum dwellers means that they are unable to afford decent housing
structures. Such structures usually do not meet any building regulation requirements.
Growth Rate of Urban Slum Population in India and Tamil Nadu During 1981-2001.

No. Years India Tamil Nadu

19. 1. 1981-1991 65.74 33.21 The

2. 1991-2001 33.66 22.13 Hindu

July 13, 3. 1981-2001 121.53 62.69 2013

Updated: July 14, 2013 02:47 IST

Are slums a problem or solution?

AP Children carry packets of rice thrown away by railway passengers at a slum area near a
railway track in Gauhati on Thursday, July 4, 2013.

 Slums represent a survival strategy in the face of insufficient & affordable housing and lack
of tenure security

Tasleema, a widow, stays in a house constructed with cement sheets which are sometimes used
as rooftops. She works in a tailoring unit near Yelahanka, Bangalore, and her shift timings are
from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. As a single working mother, she leaves her two children, aged five and
nine, at home, with no one to take care of them. The children are left to themselves to get ready
to go to school.

Manjunatha, a vegetable vendor, has to travel to the city market from his residence at Singapore.
He leaves home at 5 a.m. on his two-wheeler and returns at 2 p.m. He spends approximately
Rs.80 on travel daily, his daily income being Rs. 250.

Their sagas give them a glimpse of the condition of the urban poor in Bangalore. The Center for
Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) conducted an urban poverty survey to
understand the dynamics between livelihoods, mobility and shelter. This would provide insights
into patterns that can help design sustainable and democratic policy alternatives and initiatives.
CSTEP surveyed slums within and on the outskirts of the city, and compared the living
conditions between them. The authors feel that slums do represent certain problems but provide
solutions as well.
Though a majority of the slums surveyed have pucca or semi-pucca houses, 90% of the
households in the core slums have fewer than two rooms as opposed to 65% houses in the
peripheral areas. There is a pattern where people are willing to give up better living conditions
(more space and toilets on premises) for better opportunities in the core areas. Some of them do
not move to the new/relocated areas as their livelihood is deeply rooted in these slums (core) and
the new areas have poor accessibility and livelihood options are limited. Intrinsic skills like zari
making are related to specific markets. Relocation renders these skills redundant. The credit
ecosystem that existed based on trust, social relationship and nurtured for generations is also lost.
Unemployment and credit opportunities have a cyclical impact on each other. Credit makes it
easy for people to start small businesses and skill-based work such as carpentry, driving auto
rickshaws and taxis, and employment makes it easy for people to get and pay back credit on
time.

It is, thus, crucial to understand the link between shelter and livelihood options. This is the
reason for the failure of most of the slum relocation schemes — these disconnect the urban
functions. It is imperative that thoughtful planning be done to rehabilitate the economic
opportunities for these people.

Accessibility to basic facilities like water and sanitation is inferior in the peripheral areas (Table
1). Waste flows into pits (not septic tanks), which are dug in every house, due to a lack of
sewage connections. Water quality and its impact on health are also areas of concern. Slums in
the core areas have better access to education, especially higher education, also. Lack of
accessibility to medical Centre’s is acuter in peripheral slums.

There is a dichotomy in the mobility needs of the city (Table 2). This is not reflected in transport
plans and budgets.

Core slums are sometimes inaccessible by buses, and people have to either take an autorickshaw
to reach the nearest bus stop (around two km) or walk the distance. Peripheral slums, due to the
remoteness with limited mobility options, incur high transport costs. The analysis shows that
there is lack of affordable transport, which coupled with lack of reasonably priced housing near
employment centres dense residential areas, restricts the access to basic facilities and
opportunities for better living conditions. Mobility forms the crucial link between shelter and
livelihood.

Our case studies also demonstrate active cooperation from the slum dwellers with government
agencies when they are convinced that they will not be evicted. This is crucial in both rebuilding,
redeveloping and maintaining less serviced urban areas.

Broadly speaking, slums are perceived as a hindrance if a city is dreaming of a world-class

image and the Slum Clearance Board often takes initiatives to clear them. Alternatively, slums
can be viewed as partial solutions to a bigger problem. They represent a survival strategy in the
face of insufficient affordable housing and lack of tenure security, often blending production and
distribution spaces along with living quarters. They demonstrate innovative shelters and efficient
livelihood strategies, which form an important part of the urban ecosystem.

A major chunk of informal employment is from the slums. The prominent professions among the
urban poor are that of housemaids, sweepers, rag-pickers, autorickshaw drivers, vegetable
vendors and watchmen, to name a few. Their lives are non-descript and invisible but each of
them helps in the functioning of a city or a family.

Slums represent certain problems and yet provide solutions and they are here to stay.

The study concludes that:

*The success of slum development and rehabilitation schemes/other schemes lies in focusing not
only on building houses but also promoting livelihood options and affordable social
infrastructure and mobility options to livelihoods — the urban ecosystem as a whole.

*The services and lives of the slum people need to be acknowledged and included in designing
solutions, through participatory negotiations and institutions. This will make them more
responsible towards cities and their infrastructure.

A recognized urban habitation system is required to make the poor eligible for basic amenities.
This will also help in facilitating access to government.
A study on the article published on Socio-economic survey of slums nearing completion – The
Hindu on Friday, Feb04, 2011 shows that the Urban Community Development (UCD) wing of
the corporation is learnt to have completed more than 90 per cent of the socio-economic survey.
‘Topo survey'

The corporation also took up ‘topo survey' of the slums along with the socio-economic survey to
develop them under the newly launched Rajiv AwasYojana (RAY). The topo survey would have
details like area of the slum, population, infrastructure available and so on. It would mark the
footprints – houses, buildings, underground drainage, drinking water facilities and the like – in
the slums.

The socio-economic survey would also cover details like owner of the house, children, age,
marriage, livelihood, deaths, if any in the recent past, and reasons for the deaths, schooling,
habits, community halls and so on. While the socio-economic survey would be completed in a
fortnight, topo survey is expected to be completed in the next three months, officials say.

The corporation would prepare a detailed project report based on the surveys for developing the
slums under the RAY. The corporation has identified 109 slums in the city for development
under the RAY at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,223 crore.

The stress would be on ‘in situ re-development' of the slum to keep dislocation of slum-dwellers
at the lowest possible level. As the objective is realising inclusive growth, relocation of dwellers
would be done only where it is absolutely unavoidable, an official explains. But the VMC plans
to relocate the people living in 19 hazardous areas, including canal bunds, riverbed and river
berm.

The RAY envisages bringing existing slums within the formal system and enabling the dwellers
to avail themselves of the same level of basic amenities as those of other areas in the city, while
also tackling the shortages of urban land and housing that keep shelter out of the reach of the
urban poor.

The news on the Times of India on Dec 31, 2008, 02.09am IST said that “Two fires gut 300 huts
in Chintadripet TN”. Two fires that occurred in the space of six hours on Tuesday afternoon
gutted at least 300 huts that were erected on the pavements of Langs Garden road in
Chintadripet, up to the banks of the Cooum River. Police were not immediately able to ascertain
the cause of the fires. Fire and rescue service personnel later decided to station two fire tenders at
both ends of Langs Garden road for quick response in case another fire broke out. According to
police, the first fire occurred in one of the thatched huts opposite to a theatre that was recently
demolished for the construction of a commercial complex. "We got a call at 2.15 am and pressed
five fire tenders and four Metro water tankers into service. The fire was brought under control at
4 am. No one was injured. However, fire gutted at least 120 huts," S Veeramani, divisional fire
officer, central zone, told the Times of India.

An article by a Research Scholar from transparent Chennai speaks about “Slum eviction plans
in Chennai sparks protests” Posted on April 18, 2013

Close to 150 people gathered near the Tamil Nadu State Guest House, Chepauk on April 9, 2013
to oppose slum eviction in Chennai. People from various slums, including Anna Sathya Nagar,
Thiruvanmiyur, Otteri, and Kasimedu, and other community groups assembled around 11 am.

According to residents, the proposed upcoming riverfront development project and other road
development projects will likely displace people from these slums where they have lived for
several decades. People at the protest told me that though they have been living in their current
locations for so many years, they still do not have access to basic facilities like good drinking
water, electricity, ration card, and also the land ownership documents. Moreover, residents
believed that a few slums in Chintadripet, Pudupettai were burnt by officials so that slums could
be removed. In addition, tsunami victims of Besant Nagar who were already deprived of the
disaster and calamity relief schemes are also being forced to move far away from their source of
livelihood.

All of the displaced people will be moved to resettlement colonies in Thoraipakkam, far from
their current residences, places of work, schools, etc however, demand for alternate housing
settlements within the city and in close proximity to schools and their work place has gone
unheard. The people at the protest told me that every successive election campaign brings
politicians to their doorstep begging for votes in return for promises of getting them legal
documents of land ownership. But they are still waiting and hoping to get those promises
fulfilled.

Written by Aishwarya Balasubramanian, intern, Transparent Chennai

“A quash should be done at the chintadripet slum”- an article that speaks about the
vandalized living conditions in Chintadripet slum. Posted by irshad onlinemedia at 10:38.

“It was an obnoxious scene to see people waiting for restrooms in a queue.” It’s very obscure and
it is surely a big impact which is created in this slum. There are only 13 restrooms (07 for gents
and 06 for ladies) for 700 families in this slum.
I’m disconcert about this, says Parthasarathy, 62, “who is located at the chintadripet slum, Richie
street for more than 40 years. He is a cobbler and he has two daughters were both of them are
widows were each of them has three children. He says that the restrooms are not taken care
properly where we don’t have a basic facility of a door in the toilet, no proper water, no proper
sewage systems etc... He adds that people are not ready to budge from here since there are no
jobs for them if they go from here.”

“We don’t have a janitor for the toilet and this remains uncleaned for a longer period. The
crummy from our side is a person named Kumar who has to take care of this toilet should feel
embarrass to abandon this completely since he is very indolent and he is a drunkard where he
thinks that this doesn’t immune anyone but his job is to clean the toilets regularly but he fails to
do it.” says Lakshmi who sells food on the slum.

When asked Kumar regarding the miss – happenings he regrets about it and he is mulish that he
is perfect in his job. This is obscure and curtail for resentment. This is not aberrant by anyone
who owns blame but a large group of people reports that he is not a bravo in his job.

“The provision made for the disposed water to come out through the tube is not proper and has
been broken and as a result water gets leaked and it gets blocked near our houses. The garbage
bin that is overflowing outside the toilet has made the situation even more badly. Those living in
the housing board, which is next to the slum also uses the same bin. So it gets filled up soon and
most of the time it is seen overflowing” says Bhavani who is a fish seller residing there for 40
years.
Sources say that “The housing board was build 15 years ago and houses have been allotted by
the government only for 96 families. Other people are residing there in the slum for more than 60
years and are facing this problem of using fewer toilets for many years from the time it was built
50 years back”.

“Here almost 75% people are employed in the Parcel office and we have all required facilities
such as hospital, schools for our children, our work place is nearby and we have got our own
jobs. It is going to be really difficult if we were asked to vacate to the suburbs where the state
government would allot houses for us. Moreover we cannot afford to spend much on travelling
from the outskirts of the city for our work and we don’t find our required facilities. We are sure
of moving to a place that will meet our needs. He noted that in spite of giving complaints to the
councillor of the area to ameliorate the conditions of the toilet, they have not received any
response.” says Saravanan.

When asked the councillor of the Chintadripet Mr M.Pandian of ward 62 and part 14, regarding
the issue he explains “The huts which have been put up are illegal and we politicians don’t have
the rights to remove them. The toilets were built up only for 100 families but now the numbers
have increased to 700. We have allotted the housing board near the slum for around 500 families
so the congestion has decreased”.

“Since I came to power only a few months back after the by elections, I need some time to
sanction the funds for the construction of additional toilets” he adds.

“People here are not willing to vacate their places and shift to the housing board allotted for each
family in the suburbs of Shollinganallur, Velachery, Pallikaranai. The construction of houses is
progressing in full swing here and will get completed in three months. There are already one
present in Kanagi Nagar and Velachery”. He adds “Though we take steps in allotting houses
many living in the slums, who own these houses rent them and continue staying in the slum.
They make a living from the amount of around 500 to 1000 collected from their tenants.” The
councillor recollects the slum clearance board in solving out the issue not only in the state but
also in the country. “Only through the joint efforts of ruling party, police force and the slum
clearance board we can make a slum free India”
An article on “Slum dwellers boo at government’s late reaction by Gokul Vannan”
published on Jul 13, 2011 11:06 PM speaks about the reaction of the slum dwellers to the
eviction process.

The Union Health Minister’s expression of shock last week, over the high incidence of diabetes
and hypertension in Chennai slums, has met with derision and mockery at the hands of the city’s
slum dwellers. They poke fun at the Minister’s ‘late awakening’ and claim the comment could
have been driven by the want for foreign funding. They are very clear that the lack of even the
most basic of amenities is the root of their problem.

“We have been suffering for years together without proper houses and basic amenities. No one
bothered about us. But we are given attention once we become the subject of study material for
NGOs and government agencies. We have seen many surveys, but nothing has changed in our
lives,” said Selvam, 40, a daily wage labourer and a resident of a slum on the banks of the
Coovam in Chintadripet.

The slum dwellers’ awareness of their predicament is clear. “The Central Government might
have got some world bank project, that’s why their attention is turning towards us,” said local
slum dwellers, attached to various to political parties.

City Express visited two slums — one in Chintadripet and the other behind the Hazrat Syed
Moosa Sha Qadiri Dargah on Mount Road. Conditions were deplorable and an air of dejection
hung thickly around. “How can we be expected to be healthy when it is near impossible for us to
sleep?” asked many of the residents. They said that before retiring to get whatever little sleep
they could get, they had to set aside `2 for every family member. That otherwise paltry sum is
their prized passport to a toilet in the morning.

The lack of sanitation notwithstanding, their problems are many and never-ending. Every ‘house’
and ‘street’, as is characteristics of a slum, are tiny and overcrowded. A 200 sqft space with a
thatch for cover is usually home to around eight persons, who jostle for room not only with each
other but also with mosquitoes.
A small pit of drainage runs as the visual limit of the lane, much as a pavement does to the city’s
more fortunate roads.

The worst affected of this silent calamity are the children of these slums. Deprived of basic
education due to poverty, these children grow up in an utter lack of privacy and a wide
prevalence of disease. “It is natural that our children grow up violent and disturbed. Most of their
childhood is spent in disease. When they are not diseased they grow up witnessing domestic
violence, sexual intercourse and experience sexual abuse,” said Ramesh, who sells scrap for a
living.

Ramesh himself was ill when he spoke to this reporter. He said he had spent `1,500 over the past
two weeks for the medical treatment of his children, who had been suffering from high fevers.

The condition is similar in the Chintadripet slum. Five-month-old Shyam lay crying with fever,
as his typhoid-infected mother Kavita lay unconsciously by his side. Relatives crowded their
side, unable to do little else by worry. They complained that they were waiting to gather some
money for treatment with a private doctor, as they had been denied proper treatment at the
nearby Corporation Hospital.

Even as the women and children of the slums suffer from diseases, their men folk live under
cursing pressure. “We have to go make a living. When we come back home tired we have to deal
with money lenders. Then there are the domestic squabbles that never leave the poor. We need to
drink to sleep. Most of us are done by the time we are 40,” said Dinesh, a daily wage labourer.

Slum dwellers are not only aware of their problems but are also aware of the futility of the
various studies done on them and the shock they invariably elicit. “We need enough toilets that
are kept clean. We need water to drink and clean ourselves. We need enough space to sleep. A
minister’s shock is of no use to us,” said a group of complaining residents.

An article on The New Indian ExpressPark turned school, speaks about the May Day Park in
Chintadripet. When Chennai hits the hot mode, its parks assume greater importance. Their value
to the toiling tribe (who have to trek out, shine or shower, to bring home the bacon) is indeed
immense. At noon and afternoon when the sun is a blistering blotch on the sky, you can find
people taking a siesta under the natural sunscreens that these parks provide.

The May Day Park in Chintadripet is living up to its name. It is proving to be a refuge for the
labouring class. Handcart-pullers, hawkers and other foot-soldiers (in the battle-field of life) stop
at the park for some shelter from the swelter of the Chennai sun... to recharge their batteries
(quickly) to plod once again on their wearisome ways. It is a scorching Tuesday afternoon.
Ranjit, a car driver, has parked himself under a tree. His family is in Kerala; he is working in
Chennai for five years now.

"I am driving an Ambassador car with a diesel engine. The heat inside the car is unbearable. It's
pleasant to work from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. Thereafter, the scorching sun gets to you. You can go to
the theatre to have air-conditioned comfort, but that will cost Rs. 40. At parks, you get relief
from sunburn, free of cost."

Ramesh is an electrician, and the nature of his work allows him to hop in and out of the May Day
Park. "I have an electrical work contract in Chintadripet. I come here to have my lunch and, if
there is more time, to read also." He has a Tamil magazine in his hand.

Selvam buys scrap items (iron goods, paper and the like) from house to house and sells them to a
scrap shop near the Egmore railway station. He operates in the Chintadripet area, as also in a few
other localities. During summertime, he rests in the park in the afternoon; for it "makes little
business sense to call on houses between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. as most of the residents will be
having a nap then".

It is not just the weary wayfarers who benefit from this park; it is of invaluable help to children
from the slums in Chintadripet. Apart from providing them with space for playing, it also
doubles as their "classroom" every day. Every evening, one Sadhasivam, a resident of
Chintadripet, takes classes (free of cost) for little children from slums in and around
Chintadripet. There are non-governmental organisations that provide non-formal education for
slum and street children at parks; that Sadhasivam is rendering such a service to society single-
handedly, is even more commendable.
For the record, the Unwind Centre is providing non-formal education to slum children, at Anna
Nagar Park. It runs a project called `The Street School' (since 1998); through which volunteers
from Unwind Centre teach street children reading and writing skills. These children assemble
every day at the Anna Nagar Park for their lessons. "They are also taught hygiene, moral values
and manners. We talk their parents into having them (the kids) enrolled in schools. We bear half
the school fees. We get them school uniform too," says Lijjin of Unwind Centre.

A news article published by A Selvaraj & V Ayyappan | TNN, “Once ruled by slumlords, now
under politicos sway” in The Hindu speaks about the ownership of the slum lands.

For decades, they used to be in the clutches of criminals. Now, they are under the sway of
politicians this is the story of Chennai’s slum dwellers. They are a dependable captive vote bank
for politicians when a sizeable section of urban voters do not turn up at polling booths.
Till early 2000, Chennai slums were dominated by slumlords, mostly rowdies and gangsters,
who were henchmen of local politicians.

For instance, Vyasarpadi had several a category and A Plus category rowdies. After the death of
many notorious criminals, police curbed the menace with an iron hand. But some of them have
taken refuge in mainstream political parties now. One of them, Punk Kumar was a state-level
office bearer in PMK.He was gunned down by the city police in December 2006 in
Thiruneermalai near Tambaram. He used to rule the roost in Saidapet for more than a decade.
Ayodhyakuppam Veeramani was a dreaded desperado in the fishermen colonies of Nadukuppam
and Ayodhyakuppam. He too was killed in an encounter 10 years ago.
Many elected representatives recommend redevelopment of city slums without moving the
inhabitants out. They do not want to lose their trusted vote bank by relocating them to the new
slum clearance board tenements coming up in the suburbs. On Mir Bakhsi Ali Street, a narrow
lane off Bharati Salai, in Royapettah stands a four-storeyed building where 32 families who lost
their huts in a fire at Kolaikaranpet five years ago are housed. Being newly built, the building
stands out from the rest that huddle wall to wall on the street in the old neighbourhood.
The families that occupy the new tenements are lucky to be housed in a complex resembling a
gated community. But, under the veneer of this rehabilitation scheme lays the stark reality of
discrimination which is never revealed in the open for fear of reprisal. The allotment was not
transparent; allege some those who failed to get tenements there. Some of the present occupants
were brought in from other places, said a Congress functionary.
The party in power garners loyalty from slum dwellers by stressing that they did the allotment.
This is how they are tied to a party, said Perambur MLA Soudararajan,
Those who get the houses are made to think they got the accommodation because of a partys
blessing. This ties them to local politicians, said a Congress worker in Royapettah. People are
allowed to live in slums only with concurrence of these political leaders. They even rent out
space in slums to new tenants. Some of them are pucca concrete constructions.

TARIFF FOR A HOUSE IN A SLUM IN CHENNAI

CHINTADRIPET
800 to 1,000/ month for family

TOUGH SITUATION: In many slums across the city, people are allowed to live only with the
concurrence of political leaders

An article on the sanitation facilities in slums, “Just a wee bit of trouble in Chennai” depicts
the challenges faced by the people. Clean public toilets are almost a rarity in the city, which has
just 960 public facilities for a population of over six million

For a large, rapidly-developing metropolis, Chennai fails spectacularly when it comes to catering
to a basic need — providing clean public toilets on its streets.

According to data from the Chennai Corporation, the city has just 960 public toilets for a
population of over 6.5 million. And even these are not in the best of shape. The Tamil Nadu
Urban Sanitation Policy, 2012, revealed that close to 67 per cent of the toilets do not satisfy its
norm of one toilet for every 60 persons. In fact, a study by research group Transparent Chennai
revealed that in undeclared slums, there was, on average, one toilet available per 1,056 people.

D. Neeladevi (name changed), a resident of a slum in Chintadripet shares a toilet with the over
500 people in her locality. The slum has just one public toilet, consisting of two latrines each for
men and women as well as a bathroom. “Every morning, when I go to the toilet, there are
sanitary napkins and used cloths floating in the latrines. It is simply not possible to step in
without a hand over my nose. It is particularly difficult for women, as at times, they have to use
the toilet several times a day,” she said.

This is not an isolated case, says Agnes Amala, a researcher at Transparent Chennai. She pointed
out that in Mullaima Nagar, in ward 173, there is just one toilet serving a population of 3,500.

Apart from the stench and filth that pervade most public toilets in the city, residents say there are
other issues too: men consuming alcohol inside, bad lighting that makes it difficult for women to
use after dark and the absence of buckets and mugs.

“In many toilets, there are also leakages because they are not properly connected to septic tanks
or drainage outlets. Also, barring a few toilets that are free for use, many do not have caretakers
or anybody to maintain them, which lead to their not being cleaned for days at a time. For
instance, in Jayalakshmipuram, where the toilet is free, there is no caretaker, there is just one
light for four latrines and one mug for two latrines,” Ms. Amala said.

While the ‘pay and use’ toilets in slums are generally better maintained, they often do not serve
the purpose they are meant for, said Kamala of Penn Urimai Iyakkam, a women’s social
movement. “Public toilets are essential for women from poor economic backgrounds. But even
though the toilets charge between Rs. 2 and Rs. 5 per use, I know many women who cannot
afford to pay even this amount, especially when they need to use it several times a day,” she said.

A Chennai Corporation official said that each zonal officer was in charge of the maintenance of
public toilets in her zone. “Ideally, a sanitary inspector should periodically visit the toilet and
report to the officer with regard to its upkeep,” he said.

Last year, the Corporation proposed the installation of 5,000 toilets in the city. Later, the figure
was brought down to 2,000. These toilets are meant to be built under a public-private partnership
constructed with polycarbonate sheets or high-density polyethylene. But a Corporation source
said it would take at least two years to finish the installation of these toilets. “The new toilets will
be put up in places after demolishing the old ones. But the Corporation does not even have a list
of toilets to be demolished and even the tendering process is taking an unusually long time,” the
official added.
An article on a blog gives a brief description about the slums in Chintadripet. “Chintadripettah
slum – A bird’s eye view”
Chintadripettah which is located in Chennai was once called as chinna thari pettai because of its
novelty weaving .Later it’s modified as Chintadripettah for colloquial usage. It’s one of the
oldest places in Chennai, though it’s considered to be formed in 1735.
The first rail line of the Indian sub-continent came up near Chintadripet Bridge in Madras
Presidency in 1836 as an experimental line .Now; the local place was covered with foreground of
slum connecting from Riche Street to chintadripettah railway station. Opposite to the railway
station there is a metro water supply board following a State Bank ATM and their huts are
mushroomed at the two ends of the road which leads to Riche Street.

The slum contains nearly 500 huts in an area of 1 km ranging from chintadripettah to Riche
Street. The local area has 12 pettishop, 4 grocery shops, 5 Mike set mart and 3 silver vessel
rental shop since the street welcomes all Indian festivals it has 4 pillayar kovil, an amman
koil ,St. Antonio’s church and two small Muslim community local mosque which does not have
centering and roofs.

Each hut provides a space only for two persons; Huts have a single television in which Sun TV is
the largest viewed channel. Huts were 2m in width, 3m in length and about 7 feet in height.
Nearly 4% of the women sitting outside the plastic sheet made huts .20% of the women found
washing clothes on the 2 meter road, 30% were engaged in cooking afternoon’s lunch,5% were
just awake from bed or chatting ,2% watching television channels, meantime 3% were relaxing
or sleeping. At least 10% of the kids engaged in bath, watching TV or sitting in streets.
People of chintadripettah are 50% black and 50% are red Indians in which most of the women
wore saree and men wore lungies. Young girl’s wears salvar and young male dressed in formals.

About 30% of the adult women are reported to be working, most of the male hired taxi autos for
business. At least 30 % were having breakfast in the street. Total population has 20% male
young women and men, 20% kids, 15% old people and 45 % are adult.
Two public toilets, a government school and a municipal office are located within the slum.
Police security has been provided at the end of the street to avoid riots and public nuisance. 10
feet clay made painted Vinayagar statue is kept outside their slum at the end of the Riche Street,
its waiting to dissolve in sea after the end of this Vinayakar Chudurthi festival.

A study on “The State government’s decision to resettle three lakh slum-dwellers of

Chennai, most of them Dalits, has evoked a lot of anger by S.R. RAGHUNATHAN” shows
that at the new settlement in Kannagi Nagar on the outskirts of Chennai. Allotters cooking food
outside the tenements is a common sight here.

“IT is a notorious fact of contemporary life in metropolitan cities that no person in his senses
would opt to live on a pavement or a slum if any other choices were given to him. Anyone who
cares to have even a fleeting glance at the pavement or slum-dwellings will see that they are the
very hell on earth…. The eviction of the pavement or the slum-dweller not only means his
removal from the house but the destruction of the house itself. And the destruction of a dwelling
house is the end of all that one holds dear in life.” Thus observed Justice Y.V. Chandrachud,
while responding to the arguments in the famous Olga Tellisvs Bombay Municipal Corporation
case in the Supreme Court in 1985. The petitioners, who were pavement dwellers in Bombay
(now Mumbai) city, argued that they had chosen a pavement or slum to live in only because of
its proximity to their place of work and that eviction would result in depriving them of their
livelihood.

Two decades after the Supreme Court upheld the right to shelter and livelihood as part of the
right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, government agencies in Tamil Nadu bulldozed
dwellings made up of tarpaulin, bamboo sticks, iron sheets and thatches in different parts of
Chennai and sent their residents to far off locations on the pretext of undertaking beautification
works in the city and implementing various development schemes, including mega projects such
as elevated corridors, mass rapid transit system and metro rail.

Though the LokSabha elections scheduled for May 13 in Tamil Nadu have provided a reprieve to
the slum-dwellers who face eviction, those living in the slums in “objectionable areas” in the city
are in perpetual fear as the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) authorities are
determined to restart eviction so as to ensure that Chennai becomes “slum-free by 2013”.
Ironically, the eviction drive has been given a fresh impetus now though the British rulers had
decided exactly 100 years ago that against the backdrop of increasing squatter settlements in the
cities of Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata – then Madras, Bombay and Calcutta respectively – a
beginning should be made regarding town planning legislation and the form it should take.

The issue of tackling the city’s “slum problem” has a chequered history. Chief Minister M.
Karunanidhi, who has always claimed to follow in letter and spirit his predecessor and
DravidaMunnetraKazhagam (DMK) founder C.N. Annadurai’s motto “We shall see God in the
smile of the poor”, set up the TNSCB during his first tenure in 1970. The board was formed to
clear all the slums in Chennai within a targeted period, prevent further growth of slums in the
city, give protection to slum-dwellers from eviction, re-house them in modern tenements and
provide basic amenities such as drinking water supply, electricity and storm water drains to
certain slum areas until they were finally cleared.

Laying the foundation stone for the TNSCB’s first project in Nochikuppam to construct 1,000
tenements at a cost of Rs.67 lakh, Karunanidhi declared on December 23, 1970, that his
government had decided to replace all slums in the city with modern buildings under a seven-
year programme at Rs.40 crore. But the failure of successive governments to translate this lofty
idea into practice is evident in the steady growth of slums not only in the city but also in the
Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), which extends over 1,189 sq km in three districts. Besides
the Chennai Corporation, the CMA covers one cantonment, 16 municipalities, 20 town
panchayats and 214 villages forming part of 10 panchayat unions in Thiruvallur and
Kancheepuram districts.

In 1971, the slum population in Chennai stood at 7.37 lakh. According to Census 2001, the slum
population in the city was over 10.79 lakh, 26 per cent of the city’s total population.

The pre-feasibility study on “identification of environmental infrastructure requirement in slums

in CMA”, conducted by a Hyderabad-based consultant for the TNSCB under the World Bank-
funded Tamil Nadu Urban Development Project-II in 2005, also indicated a marked growth in
slums in Chennai. A total of 1,431 slums, including 242 “undeveloped slums”, were covered by
the survey; 122 of the undeveloped slums were found located in “objectionable areas” such as
the margins of rivers, and feeder canals, roadsides, seashore and “places required for public
purposes”.

The Master Plan-II for the CMA, prepared by the Chennai Metropolitan Development
Corporation (CMDA) and approved in September 2008, also refers to the TNSCB estimates
indicating that of the 1.1 lakh families in the undeveloped slums, 75,498 live in “objectionable
slums”. They include 30,922 families squatting on the margins of the Cooum and Adyar rivers
and the Buckingham Canal, 22,769 families that have put up huts along road margins, 16,519
families located on the seashore and 5,288 families dwelling along feeder canals such as the
Mambalam-Nandanam canal, the Otteri nullah and the Captain Cotton canal.

The number of “objectionable slums” has risen to 150 now. In addition to this, 40,763 persons at
405 clusters were living on pavements, according to a survey of pavement-dwellers in the city
conducted by the consultant SPARC for the CMDA in 1989-90.

Now the government has decided to evict the people in the “objectionable slums”, “retrieve the
land under their occupation” and hand it over to the land-owing departments concerned for
“implementing programmes such as road widening, desilting and strengthening of bunds”.

Official sources admit that the TNSCB has not been able to clear all the slums and provide
houses to the economically weaker sections (EWS) in the 38 years of its existence. So far, the
board has only been able to construct 72,000 houses or tenements over 35 years, which works
out to over 2,000 houses a year. “At this rate, it will be difficult to cover all the remaining 1.1
lakh households in raw slums in Chennai,” an informed source pointed out.

Economic profile

A study on “Effective Demand for Housing in Tamil Nadu”, conducted for the State government
in 1995, had brought out the economic profile of the households thus: “About 38 per cent of the
households have an income less than Rs.1101 per month, while 9 per cent draw less than Rs.501
per month. Three per cent of the households have an income of less than Rs.250 per month. EWS
and lower income groups (LIG) account for 72 per cent of the households. The city, thus, has
more of poor people houses on the ground than of rich people houses, as a skyline….”
The same report also quoted a study by K. Madhav, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader
and the convener of the Association for Protection of Slum dweller Rights that nearly 92 per cent
of the Scheduled Caste (S.C.) and Scheduled Tribe (S.T.) households were from the LIG and the
EWS.

The failure of the government and its agencies to tackle the problem through traditional modes or
strategies has been attributed to factors such as “lack of availability of funds, lands, in-house
implementing capacity, speciality in respect of newer, faster building technologies, manpower
and organisational wherewithal to take up huge projects, delayed execution owing to
governmental procedures and indifferent quality of construction”.

Now the government has made it clear that it will redefine its strategy by allowing private
developers to use TNSCB land and raw slum land to reconstruct the existing dilapidated
tenements and slum houses on a part of the land and use the rest of the space for commercial
exploitation.

A study on the article “Huts along the Cooum river in the Pudupet area in Chennai.
According to Census 2001, the slum population in the city was over 10.79 lakh, 26 per cent
of the city’s total population by M. KARUNAGARAN” speaks about the increasing
population crises in Slums in Chennai.

The government gloats over its new schemes to provide 28,000 dwelling units for the EWS at
several places in the CMA, including Thiruvotriyur, Tondiarpet, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam,
Semmancheri and Perumbakkam, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM), the Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project (ETRP), the Rajiv Gandhi package
for tsunami housing and the 12th Finance Commission.

These schemes offer a “glimmer of hope” on the grounds that they have the mandate of a slum-
free Chennai by 2013, official sources claim. Minister for Housing and Slum Clearance
SubaThangavelan said on February 27 that his department aimed at constructing one lakh
dwelling units in two years.
But the government’s decision on resettlement and rehabilitation has evoked a lot of protest from
the slum-dwellers. The issue relating to the displacement of over three lakh people, most of them
Dalits, has been totally ignored by the ruling DMK and the main opposition All India Anna
DravidaMunnetraKazhagam (AIADMK) during the election campaign.

Though the government claimed that it would not repeat the mistakes committed in Mumbai
where slum-dwellers were forcibly evicted, several hundreds of people have already been shifted
from some slums in the city to new settlements in north Chennai and on the outskirts of the city.

People living in the slums and fishermen colonies have resorted to different forms of protest,
including hunger strike, demonstration, dharna, road roko and rallies calling for a halt to the
eviction plan and to take up immediate steps to ensure in situ development as declared in the
government’s policy on slums. The uprooted people have urged the government to enhance basic
amenities in the new settlements and ensure their livelihood.

People who have been shifted to new locations in the past eight months revealed the pathetic
situation prevailing in the new settlements, which are devoid of electricity or drinking water
supply. Heaps of garbage and clogged toilets are common sights in these new settlements. Public
distribution of essential articles and hospital facilities are inadequate here.

Livelihood issues

Those resettled at Kannagi Nagar, 20 km from the city, said most of them were daily-wage
workers and had to spend Rs.30 to Rs.40 a day on transportation. K. Renuka, a teenager, lost her
job that fetched a monthly pay of Rs.1,500 in a cardboard-box manufacturing unit in Pudupet, in
the centre of Chennai, because of the eviction. Saraswathi, another resident, said she had been
uprooted from her place of employment and social interaction.

Navaneetham, a domestic help, said she had no job because she was not able to reach the
workplace in the city in time. “We have been evicted from our homes and dumped here along
with the household articles. Our children do not have schools here and we fear they will drop
out,” said Senthamarai, an elderly woman. An erstwhile resident of a slum in north Chennai said:
“We are at the mercy of armed gangs who supply power by pilfering electricity from the cables
of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.”

The sudden influx of slum-dwellers to the new settlements have also resulted in conflicts with
the local people, besides causing environmental issues; the construction of tenements have
allegedly affected the groundwater recharging ponds near Kannagi Nagar.

M. Dhamodharan, an activist of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, said the government
had plans to shift 6,000 families living in 12 slums in the Chepauk area alone to the city’s
outskirts. “The authorities say they want to evict us as part of the beautification programme. We
are in no way responsible for spoiling the aesthetics of the city. Even those settlements along the
margins of rivers and canals cannot be blamed for polluting the waterways. It is a known fact
that untreated sewage is let into these rivers and canals by the Chennai Metro Water and
Sewerage Board,” he said.

Dhamodharan added that the evictions were a violation of the Common Minimum Programme of
the United Progressive Alliance government (of which the DMK is a part). It said, “Forced
eviction and demolition of slums will be stopped and, while undertaking urban renewal, care will
be taken to see that the urban and semi-urban poor are provided housing near their place of
occupation.”

Viable strategy needed

A.K. Padmanabhan, Central Committee member of the CPI(M), said, “Urban development does
not mean that ordinary people should not live in the CMA. Genuine urban development should
aim at providing these people basic amenities. Instead of adopting a viable strategy, several
thousands of people are uprooted and thrown to the outskirts of the city with scant regard to their
livelihood. These people will be forced to come back to the city seeking jobs. Any resettlement
plan should be linked to the livelihood of these people, keeping in mind that the informal sector’s
contribution to the city’s economy is more than 40 per cent.” He also flayed the government for
repressing the demand of the people to enhance basic amenities in the new settlements at
Kannagi Nagar, Semmancheri, Okkiyam Thoraipakkam and other areas.
R. Geetha, additional secretary of the NirmanMazdoorPanchayat, said it was highly
objectionable that the slum-dwellers had been evicted just like that. “The government wants the
service of these rickshaw pullers, construction workers, carpenters, painters and sanitary
workers, but it does not like them to live in the city. This is nothing but neo-untouchability. The
government’s city development plans are lopsided, targeting the high-end users, though priority
should be given to the improvement of the sewerage system, drinking water supply and road
facilities,” she said, adding that basically the eviction drive was an attempt to privatise public
land for setting up five-star hotels and amusement parks.

K. Shanmugavelayutham, coordinator of the Chennai Slum Dwellers Rights Movement, said the
government had failed to distribute pattas to genuine slum-dwellers. Apart from the Rs.1,468-
crore elevated expressway project from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal, several proposed
schemes, including the Ennore Road project and the metro rail project, will cause large-scale
displacement of the slum population, he added.

Experts are of the view that forced eviction amounted to human rights violation and it should not
be forgotten that India was a signatory to agreements such as the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The struggle for housing in many countries had been a
genuine one as reflected in the success of the Movement of National Struggle for Housing
(MNLM) in uniting vast sections of the masses to highlight the issue, they point out.

The TNSCB’s socio-economic survey in 1971 said poverty and frequent failure of monsoons had
led to the mass influx of agricultural labourers into the city from the adjoining districts. “After
coming to the city, they pick up any manual job. The income they derive from their jobs was
very low which was hardly sufficient for a balanced diet, so they were unable to pay for rents for
securing decent dwellings and hence squatted on open spaces available near their workspots.”

In the era of neoliberalism, things became only worse. After all, neoliberalism creates conditions
in favour of increasing private investment in the housing sector. Such investors target only the
profitable high-income groups. And the government has gradually withdrawn from investing in
housing, particularly in projects for the economically weaker sections.
An article from the BBC News, “India struggles with power theft” speaks about the problem
of electricity in the Slums in India. How can you live on a few dollars a day? Well, it helps a
little if your electricity is free.

For slum dwellers in Rohini, a residential district in North West Delhi, power theft is almost a
way of life. There's little or no effort to hide it, and the method is simplicity itself: just find the
nearest overhead power cable, sling a metal hook over it, then run a wire from the hook to the
home. The result: an illegal supply of free electricity that lasts until inspectors from the local
power utility stage one of their periodic raids.

And when that happens, people simply all wait for a few hours until the inspectors have gone
before reconnecting.

Christmas trees

The evidence for this is there for all to see. Across a main road from the slum is a line of pylons
carrying mains electricity cables. As well as the thick wires they are supposed to be supporting,
most of the pylons have dense tangles of other much smaller wires sprouting off in different
directions. The proliferation of connections makes the pylons look a little like over-decorated
Christmas trees. These little wires run across the road siphoning off power from the transmission
lines to homes and businesses located in the slum, which is a maze of little alleyways with
children and animals running around. Most households here seem to have an illegal connection
to the grid. In many instances there are several unauthorized connections - and on occasion a
legal one as well.

National problem

Similar scenes can be seen in many parts of Delhi. According to the latest official estimate, as
much as 42% of the power supplied to India's capital disappears through "transmission losses",
meaning it is consumed without being paid for. In effect, it is stolen. Three years ago the
problem was even more serious. Then transmission losses accounted for over the half the
electricity distributed in Delhi. Although Delhi has been dubbed the power theft capital of the
world, the situation in other parts of India is little better.
There are no hard figures, but the best estimate is that somewhere between a third and half of the
country's electricity supply is unpaid for. No other country suffers revenue losses on this scale. In
China, Asia's other emerging economic giant, no more than 3% of the nation's power supply is
lost to theft.

Spreading the blame

Slum dwellers' unofficial hook-ups are the most visible sign of India's power theft crisis, but
there are yet bigger problems dogging the country's energy sector. Meter tampering by middle
class households seeking to pay less than they should costs still more, says Sangeta Robinson, an
official with local utility North Delhi Power Limited, a subsidiary of energy giant Tata Power.

And yet another huge loss - albeit one which no-one can quantify - is electricity theft by
industrial enterprises.GireshSant, who works for an NGO called Prayas campaigning for more
efficient and accountable government, says the problem is one of corruption - and a vested
electoral interest in turning a blind eye.

No-one likes paying their utility bills, he says, so often politicians regard laxness about revenue
collection as a vote-winner. And opportunities for personal enrichment through corruption
related to industrial power theft have given them, as well as civil servants and utility officials,
further incentives not to rock the boat.

The political aspect is probably most blatant in rural areas.

At least 20% of India's power is consumed by farmers' irrigation systems. Frequently they either
get free power or pay low set charges that bear no relation to the amount of electricity used.

The powerful farmers' lobby is hard for politicians to ignore in country where a majority of the
population still makes its living from agriculture.

Power drought

But the pervasive electricity theft means India is chronically short of power. Power cuts due to
load shedding - which happens when demand exceeds supply - are a regular event in Indian
cities. And the problem is likely to get worse as rapid economic growth leads to greater energy
consumption. If the current 8% growth rate continues, India's energy planners reckon generating
capacity will need to expand sevenfold over the next 25 years - and that means as much as
$300bn on new power stations and transmission lines.

Meanwhile, power theft means most of India's state run electricity companies are close to
bankruptcy, collectively losing $4.5bn a year.

Private discipline?

Still, GireshSant can see change on the way. A key problem to date, he says, has been an almost
complete lack of effective auditing and accounting which could identify where the theft
problems were worst. But at last the power sector is starting to build the monitoring systems
needed to make sensible decisions. Recent legal reforms could also help. The 2003 Electricity
Act made power theft a criminal offence for the first time, and made provision for special courts
and police departments dedicated to cracking down.

Finally, there is the push to privatise. The idea is that private energy utilities will be better
managed, more motivated to raise revenue - and less susceptible to political pressure than
government-run enterprises.

Private-sector power generation plants have targets for reducing transmission losses built into
their contracts. The privatisation process is rather less advanced in power distribution. So far,
only Delhi and the eastern state of Orissa have private firms playing a significant role.
Crackdown

But in Delhi, the private power firms say they are making progress. India's two largest private
power companies - Tata Power and Reliance Energy - have been awarded management control
of supplying electricity to Delhi, working in partnership with state-run organisations.

Tata Power claims to have cut transmission losses in its patch from over 50% of the power
supplied to little more than 30%. The company recently secured its first criminal conviction for
power theft, and has also launched several thousand civil legal cases against people it suspects of
abusing the system in Delhi. Tata is also undertaking an education campaign to convince
consumers of the merits of paying for power. And it is also offering an incentive: a scheme that
gives slum-dwellers power enough for lights and a fan for a fixed price of 179 rupees ($4; £2.30)
a month. Some say, however, that even this is too expensive in relation to income, so India's
campaign against power theft clearly still has some way to go.

“Introduction: Slums in India BySriramRamgopal” gives a detailed description about the urban
reality in India. 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. It defines them as places where buildings: are in any
respect unfit for human habitation;

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."

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 ways.

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 ShraddhaAgrawal. Furthermore, "Literacy and age
at marriage are not raised in spite of laws made by the government.”

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. KumariSelja,
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.” 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 UNDP’s Urban Poverty
Report on India.
Changes within a city’s 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 VydyanathanLakshmanan, are “highly
dependent on a host of personal factors, like availability of funds, interest in studies, [and] family
situations.” According 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 don´t have money to send our children to
good school and the local school is of no use." Thus, 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.

A news article about the water problem in slums in the Times of India- “Clean water still a
dream for 4.6 crore B Sivakumar, TNN Sep 4, 2013, 07.06AM IST”.

Clean drinking water is out of reach for 4.64 crore people in rural areas in the country, says a
report tabled by the Union water resources ministry in Parliament last week.

In Rajasthan, 25,500 habitations or 1.09 crore people get water with chemical or bacterial
contamination. Assam comes next with 12,879 rural habitations without safe drinking water,
followed by Bihar with 10,587 households.

Two lakh people in 486 habitations in Tamil Nadu are exposed to contaminated water. While
both Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are water-deficient states, TN has a better track record in
managing the situation with schemes such as rainwater harvesting and desalination plants. The
Hogenakkal drinking water scheme is the latest to be commissioned for the fluoride-hit districts
of Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri. Children and adults are affected by the high presence of fluoride
in groundwater in these districts.

"Groundwater in rural areas of Vaniyambadi and Ambur in Vellore district in the north of the
state has been polluted by effluents from tanneries. Water is contaminated with chromium,
sodium chloride and other chemicals," said S Ravichandran, professor, water resources division,
Anna University. Vellore collector P Sankar said farmers in the district affected by
contamination of water have been compensated from funds collected from the tanneries. "We are
unable to find some of the farmers and have pasted notices in villages asking them to appear in
person," said Sankar. In rural parts of Tirupur district, water is contaminated by chemicals
released from dyeing units. River systems like the Cauvery, Bhavani and Noyyal have also been
affected by toxic effluents released from the units.

Smaller states and Union territories seem to fare better with almost the entire rural population
getting clean water. Contaminated water resulting in the spread of water-borne diseases like
cholera and dysentery is said to be the main cause for the rising child mortality rate in the
country. Across India, there are 84,292 rural habitations, which only have access to water
contaminated by chemicals, said the statement made in the LokSabha by Union water resource
minister Harish Rawat.

SunitaNarain of Centre for Science and Environment told TOI, "The situation is worrying and
action needs to be taken to provide clean drinking water to all rural habitations." She said the
projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should not
go in vain. It is the world's biggest ecological regeneration effort with at least a million water
bodies being dug, desilted or renovated by people. "We must make sure these water bodies are
not just holes in the ground, but will capture the next rain and recharge the aquifers," she said.

An article about the Dalit population in the Times of India, “33% of slum population live
without basic facilities” published on Oct 3, 2013 briefs on the maximum population of Dalits
or Scheduled castes in Slums.

Over a third of the slum population in India lives without any basic facility being provided by the
state as the slums are not recognized. In the case of some states like Rajasthan, Gujarat and
Bihar, the entire slum population of several lakhs remains unrecognized by the state
governments. For the first time, the census data on slums identified slum dwellers as the people
living in compact areas with a population of at least 300, in unhygienic environment with
inadequate infrastructure and lacking proper sanitary and drinking water facilities. Earlier, only
people in areas notified or recognized as slums by state or local authorities were counted.

With the new method, several states such as Haryana, Delhi, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and
Jharkhand have identified more slum dwellers in such areas than in the notified or recognized
slums. In fact, the number of towns having slums has gone up from 1,743 in 2001 to 2,613 in
2011, out of a total of 4,041 towns in India.

The proportion of slum population to urban population has fallen slightly with the slum
population growing at a slower pace than urban areas as a whole. There also isn't any difference
in the household size of urban areas and slums any more, about 4.7, with slums showing a higher
reduction in family size.

The literacy rate in slums too has gone up to 78% compared to the overall urban literacy of over
84%. The jump in female literacy in slums (from 63% to 72%) is higher than the increase in
male literacy from 80% to 84%. However, literacy rate is lower than 70% in slums in Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

About one in five persons in a slum is from the scheduled caste, a share that has increased in the
last one decade. However, the proportion of SCs in the overall urban population is just 12.6% or
about one in eight persons. The share of scheduled tribes in urban population has increased to
about 3% just as it has in slums, where it is a little higher than 3%.

Interestingly, the work participation rate in slums is just slightly higher (36%) compared to the
urban rate of 35%. However, the work participation of women in slums is almost two percentage
points higher than in the urban population. But more than two out of five women workers living
in slums are marginal workers, who do not have employment throughout the year. The southern
states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa have among the highest work participation rates, about
40%, while Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are among the worst.
Among the states, Maharashtra has the highest slum population of 1.18 crore followed by
Andhra Pradesh (one crore plus), West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (58 lakh).
However, as a proportion, the slum population in Maharashtra has shown the biggest reduction
from 23% to 18%. A few states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat, too, have
shown a marginal reduction in the proportion of slum population, though in most states the
proportion has increased.

An article on Sep 12, 2013 says that “Government is planning to launch slum-free India
mission”

The Union government will soon launch a 'Slum Free India' mission with Rajiv AwasYojana
(RAY). The implementation phase of the scheme after its launch will be run on a mission mode
during 2013-22.

The government is bringing all existing slums within the formal system and enabling them to
avail the basic amenities that are available for the rest of the city. In the implementation phase,
RAY will cover all towns, cities and urban agglomerations in the country. The selection will be
made by the states in consultation with the centre giving priority to district headquarters, cities of
religious, heritage and tourist importance with due consideration to the criterion of pace of
growth of the city, slums within the city and predominance of scheduled caste, scheduled tribe
and minority population and other weaker and vulnerable section of the society.

The Union government would fund 50%, 75% and 80% of the project cost for towns, cities and
urban agglomerations respectively with population of more than 5 lakh, less than 5 lakh for those
in northeastern region.

A two-step implementation strategy would be adopted i.e. preparation of Slum-free City Plans of
Action (SFCPoAs) on 'whole city' basis and detailed project reports (DPRs) on 'whole slum'
basis. Selected cities will be assisted to draw up their plans which will be an overall action plan
of the ULB with investment requirements projected and prioritized for improving and developing
the existing slums and providing houses including basic civic infrastructure and social amenities
for the urban poor for the next 10-15 years.
To add on to the news on Slum eviction speaks about “New apartments to replace ruined slum
tenements” as per the news published on Sep 28, 2013. With most of the Slum Clearance Board
tenements across the state in a dilapidated condition, posing grave risk to the occupants, the
Tamil Nadu government has announced construction of new apartments at Rs 280 crore. As
many as 3,500 tenements will be replaced by new blocks across the state shortly.

An official press release said chief minster J Jayalalithaa had given administrative sanction to the
high-cost scheme. The tenements were built several decades ago to help the poor people living in
slums get concrete housing. Initially, the government planned to build tenements in
DrRadhakrishnan Nagar, Perambur, Egmore, Chepauk, AyodyaKuppam, Kotturpuram and
Mylapore in Chennai. In the rest of the state, the board has decided to build tenements in
Coimbatore, Trichy and Nagapattinam.

Incidentally, the board has been facing stiff opposition from the residents of several tenements,
including AyodyaKuppam off Marina, where the board has planned to take up reconstruction.
Sources said efforts to vacate the residents remained a challenge as they preferred nearby vacant
grounds as temporary shelters. "They are not happy with the monthly rent as proposed by the
board during the period of construction," said a source.

The news onSep 14, 2013 speaks of the inauguration of the new apartments in Chandigarh
replacing the slums in the Times of India- “Manmohan Singh inaugurates housing complex to
rehabilitate slum dwellers”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today inaugurated a housing complex built at a cost of Rs
2,400 crore on the outskirts of the city which would benefit nearly 8,500 families living in slums
here.
Singh handed over the keys to 10 people at the inauguration of the project in Dhanas village. A
total of 8,448 flats each of 267 square feet have been built under the Jawaharlal Nehru National
Urban Renewal Mission scheme.
As per an official survey, there are around 25,000 families that have been identified as living in
slums in various places in the city, a spokesman said adding, "The idea of the project is to make
Chandigarh slum-free."
These flats will be handed over to the beneficiaries on lease for a period of 20 years, after the
completion of the time period, the house will be allotted to them, he said.
The complex would have sewage treatment plant (STP), electricity, drinking water supply,
school, police station, dispensary among other things.
The flats have a living room, a bathroom and kitchen and are expected to be inhabited by about
50,000 people.
UT Administrator ShivrajPatil has directed officials to plan and set up solar photovoltaic panels
on the roofs of all the flats.
Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation GirijaVyas, Governors of Punjab and
Haryana ShivrajPatil and JaganNathPahadia, Chief Ministers of the two states Parkash Singh
Badal and Bhupinder Singh Hooda and local Congress MP PawanBansal were among those
present.

An article on Mar 11, 2013 in the Times of India 'Slums fewer, dwellers more', speaks about
the increasing Slum population. This may steal some lustre out of the government's ''India
Shining'' campaign. The latest study by the National Sample Survey Organisation shows urban
slums are chockful with people while infrastructure is scant.Since 1993, though the number of
slums has gone down, the number of slum dwellers has increased. This means there is too little
space for too many people and there's too much pressure on civic amenities. According to the
survey (conducted from July to December 2002), the number of slum clusters in urban areas has
shrunk from 56,000 in 1993 to 52,000 in 2002. But the number of people living in these shanties
has gone up from six million to eight million.

An article on Madurai to be “Proposed satellite town ideal for relocating slum dwellers,
officials say” was published on Sep 30, 2013 in the Times of India.
As several slum dwellers refuse to accept government flats located on the outskirts of the city
citing livelihood concerns, the officials of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) have
decided to consider their needs sympathetically. They have decided to scout for places where the
beneficiaries of central government houses built under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban
Renewal Mission (JNNURM) will have no difficulty in finding work.

The TNSCB officials on condition of anonymity said that they will urge the government to
earmark 10% of the land allotted for a satellite township for constructing houses for the
economically weaker sections (EWS). The government has allocated 586.86 acre in Thoppur for
developing the satellite township of Madurai. The project was announced by the chief minister
early this year.

The officials said that as per norms 10% of the land of the satellite township should be provided
for the EWS beneficiaries. If this land is handed over to TNSCB, it can provide houses for about
7,200 families under the Rajiv AwaasYojana (RAY). The central government's RAY scheme,
which is a component of the JNNURM, is exclusively for slum dwellers on the lines of Indira
AwaasYojana for rural poor.

Since the proposed township area is alongside the National Highway 7, the beneficiaries would
get better connectivity to Madurai city. Moreover, the place is also close to Kappalur industrial
estate where they will have better work prospects. Tirumanaglam municipality is barely a couple
of kilometers from the allocated land.

While the district administration could not find any other suitable place for the upcoming
projects under RAY in the city limits, the satellite township area would be a win-win situation
for both the beneficiaries and the officials, the officials said.

In the Slum Free City Plan of Action (SFCPA) prepared by the TNSCB it is projected that there
would 24,500 slums by 2026. An estimated 5,000 houses will have to be constructed for slum
dwellers in another two years. Although, the TNSCB officials are keen to start the projects soon,
the unavailability of land in the right areas has been a cause of concern. They will soon contact
the state minster for housing and urban development on this issue.
CHAPTER – III
 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Electricity Supply

The variable in Table -1 has been studied by the researcher to know the electricity at the
respondents

TABLE – 1

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

Electricity Supply Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 49 98
No 1 2
Total 50 100

This table shows that 98 percent of the respondents have electricity supply to their house and
only 2% do not have electricity facility at their residence.

According to the study conducted by Chandramouli in 2003 “Electricity has become a basic need
of population especially in urban areas. The census however reveals that even in the metropolis,
the satisfaction of this need is not universal. While electricity is available to 97% of the non-slum
population, only 79% of the slum population has this facility. 1% of the households reported no
source of lighting, while 20% depended on Kerosene and other oils for their lighting needs”

The 79 percent electricity supply Chandramouli has stated in his study as per 2003 refers to the
whole of slums in Chennai and as per the study conducted in Chintadripet as per 2013 98
percent of the respondents get electrical supply in the locality .
Problems in the power supply

The variable in Table -2 has been studied by the researcher to know the problems with electricity
supply at the residents of the respondents

TABLE – 2

PROBLEMS WITH ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

Percentage
Problems in the power supply Frequency
(%)
Fluctuations 6 12
Frequent power cuts 11 22
Low/High voltage 23 46
Others 10 20
Total 50 100

The table shows that 46 percent of the respondents have low/high voltage at their residence, 22
percent of the respondents encounter frequent power cuts at their residence, 12 percent of the
respondents have voltage fluctuations often at their residence and the rest of the respondents
have problems like unsafe electrical units near their residence.

According to the article in BBC by Mark Gregory in 2006” pervasive electricity theft means
India is chronically short of power.Power cuts due to load shedding - which happens when
demand exceeds supply - are a regular event in Indian cities.And the problem is likely to get
worse as rapid economic growth leads to greater energy consumption.If the current 8% growth
rate continues, India's energy planners reckon generating capacity will need to expand sevenfold
over the next 25 years - and that means as much as $300bn on new power stations and
transmission lines.”

Due to power thefts and other improper electricity connection methods constant low/high voltage
fluctuations occur in the locality.
Water supply

The variable in Table - 3 has been studied by the researcher to know the availability of water for
the respondents

TABLE – 3

WATER SUPPLY

Water supply Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 46 92
No 4 8
Total 50 100

The table shows that 92 percent of the respondents have access to water supply and only 8
percent of the respondents do not have access to water supply

The majority of the respondents stated that they have access to water supply at their locality
Frequency of water supply

The variable in Table - 4 has been studied by the researcher to know the Frequency of water for
the respondents at their locality

TABLE – 4

FREQUENCY OF WATER SUPPLY

Frequency of water supply Frequency Percentage (%)

Everyday 46 92
Once in two days 4 8
Total 50 100

The table shows that 92 percent of the respondents get access to water every day and only 8
percent have access to water only once in two days.

Since there is a hand pump available which is provided by the government people enjoy
continuous water supply throughout the day.
Source of water supply

The variable in Table - 5 has been studied by the researcher to know the Source of water for the
respondents at their locality

TABLE – 5

SOURCE OF WATER SUPPLY

Source of water supply Frequency Percentage (%)

Common hand pumps 48 96
Tap connections in home 1 2
Water lorry 1 2
Total 50 100

The table shows that 96 percent of the respondents have access to water through common hand
pumps installed by the corporation, 2 percent of the respondents have access through water lorry
and another 2 percent of the respondents have tap connections to their residence for water supply

According to article published by Chandramouli in 2003 “Slums are considerably disadvantaged

as far as sources of drinking water are concerned. Hand pumps (42%) are main source of
drinking water in slums. Tap water is available to 31% and a sizeable proportion (20%) is
serviced by “Other sources”. In non-slum areas Tap (48%) and hand pumps (31%) are the
primary sources of drinking water.”(pg 11)

It is inferred that majority of the respondents at Chintadripet get water from common hand
pumps and there is no water lines to their residence.
Quality of water

The variable in Table - 5 has been studied by the researcher to know the Quality of water
available at the slum

TABLE – 6

QUALITY OF WATER

Quality of water Frequency Percentage (%)

Good 11 22
Satisfactory 13 26
Average 7 14
Poor 19 38
Total 50 100

The table shows that 38 percent of the respondents rated the quality of water as poor, 26 percent
of the respondents are satisfied with the quality of water, 22 percent of the respondents rated the
quality of water as good and 14 percent of the respondents rated the quality of water as average.

According to article by Sivakumar in TOI in Sept 2013 "Groundwater in rural areas of

Vaniyambadi and Ambur in Vellore district in the north of the state has been polluted by
effluents from tanneries. Water is contaminated with chromium, sodium chloride and other
chemicals," said S Ravichandran, professor, water resources division, Anna University. Vellore
collector P Sankar said farmers in the district affected by contamination of water have been
compensated from funds collected from the tanneries. "We are unable to find some of the
farmers and have pasted notices in villages asking them to appear in person," said Sankar.

The inference from the table also shows that most of the people have stated that the quality of
water available in the locality is poor which could be related to the above article.
Proper Drainage facility:

The Variable in Table – 7 helps the researcher to find out the proper drainage facility available in
the slum.

TABLE-07

PROPER DRAINAGE FACILITY IN THE SLUM

Proper
Frequency Percentage (%)
drainage
Yes 16 32
No 34 68
Total 50 100

The table shows that 68 percentage of respondents say that there is no proper drainage facility in
the area where else 32 percent say that they have proper drainage facilities.

According to the survey by Chandramouli, “A little more than one fourth of the Chennai
population lives in Slums. Slums in Chennai are greatly disadvantaged as far as quality of
housing and availability of basic amenities like drinking water, electricity, latrines, drainage,
non-polluting fuels and the like”(Page 10)

Though the drainage pipelines from each houses are connected to a common outlet, the pipeline
is not been maintained properly by periodically checking for blocks which causes water
stagnation during rainy seasons. The condition of drainage system in Chintadripet is similar to
the pathetic drainage facilities available at all the slums in Chennai.
Toilet

The Variable in Table – 08 helps the researcher to find out the toilet facility available in the
residents of the respondents.

TABLE-08

TOILET FACILITY AT RESIDENCE

Toilet Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 3 6
No 47 94
Total 50 100

The table shows that 94 percent doesn’t have toilet facility in their residents and only 6 percent
have toilet facilities.

According to data from the Chennai Corporation, the city has just 960 public toilets for a
population of over 6.5 million. And even these are not in the best of shape. The Tamil Nadu
Urban Sanitation Policy, 2012, revealed that close to 67 per cent of the toilets do not satisfy its
norm of one toilet for every 60 persons. In fact, a study by research group Transparent Chennai
revealed that in undeclared slums, there was, on average, one toilet available per 1,056 people
(Page 31)

Since there is hardly any space for toilet construction in each houses and the fact that one public
toilet is used by all the 350 families in the locality is the reason for people defecating outdoors
which could be related with the above article.
Alternate options to defecate

The Variable in Table – 09 helps the researcher to find out the alternate options to defecate
available in area.

TABLE-09

ALTERNATE OPTIONS TO DEFECATE

Alternate options
for defecation Frequency Percentage (%)
Public toilet 46 92
Open defecation 1 2
NA 3 6
Total 50 100

The table shows that 92 percent use public toilets as the alternative for defecation and 2 percent
defecate outdoor.

According to the researchon Socio Economic Conditions of Urban Slum Dwellers in Kannur
Municipality by Sufaira.C.“Kerala has been able to provide for the basic needs of most of its
citizen. This is revealed by comparative indicators of health, education and demographic
transition. These average indicators hide the experience of communities that have been left out of
the development process such as the fisher folk and the tribal’s. Increasing numbers of slums
constitute a major challenge to development. The result emphasizes the need for measures to
improve the physical environment of the dwelling places like basic amenities of toilets, proper
drainage, sewage system and adequate water supply”

Since there are no toilets attached in their house people use public toilet and outdoor as an
alternate option for defecation which emphasis on the need to construct of toilets as mentioned
in the above article .
Bathroom at residence

The Variable in Table – 10 helps the researcher to find out the bathroom facility available in the
residents of the respondents.

TABLE-10

BATHROOM FACILITY AT RESIDENCE

Bathroom Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 8 16
No 42 84
Total 50 100

The table shows that 84 percent doesn’t have bathroom facility in their residents and 16 percent
have bathroom facilities.

Since there is no enough space for separate bathroom construction people bathe outdoors or use
the public toilet.
Alternate options for bathing

The Variable in Table – 11 helps the researcher to find out the alternate bathing facility available
in the area of the respondents.

TABLE-11

ALTERNATE OPTIONS FOR BATHING

Alternate options for

Frequency Percentage (%)
bathing
Public restrooms 35 70
Outdoors 1 2
Others 6 12
NA 8 16
Total 50 100

The table shows that 70 percent use public toilets as an alternate for bathing. Only 2 percentage
bathe outdoors and 6 percent use other areas for bathing.

Since there is no bathroom facility available at their residence due to lack for space for
construction attached bathroom people mostly use public toilet or outdoors to bathe.
Common Garbage Collector

The Variable in Table – 12 helps the researcher to find out whether there is common garbage
collector available in the area of the respondents.

TABLE-12

COMMON GARBAGE COLLECTOR

Garbage
Frequency Percentage (%)
collector
Yes 41 82
No 9 18
Total 50 100

The table shows that 82 percent agree that they have common garbage collector for the area and
only 9 percentages disagree that the area doesn’t have common garbage collector.

The garbage collector is kept in the ends of the main road and people dump their garbage in the
collector available and only few use the community centre for dumping the garbage.
Kitchen at residence:

The Variable in Table – 13 helps the researcher to find out the toilet facility available in the
residents of the respondents.

TABLE-13

KITCHEN

Kitchen at residence Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 21 42
No 29 58
Total 50 100

The table shows that 58 percent don’t have kitchen at their residence and 42 percent have a
kitchen at their residence.

It seems that due to low income, that the people are not able to afford houses with a kitchen at
their residence.
Type of stove:

The Variable in Table – 14 helps the researcher to find out the toilet facility available in the
residents of the respondents.

TABLE-14

TYPE OF STOVE

Type of Stove Frequency Percentage (%)

Gas Stove 36 72
Kerosene stove 2 4
Fire stove 12 24
Total 50 100

The table shows that 72 percent use gas stove, 24 percent use fire stove and that 4 percent use
kerosene stove.

Most of the respondents in the locality use gas stoves which was s offered by the ex government
for the cooking purposes.
Type of house:

The Variable in Table – 15 helps the researcher to find out the toilet facility available in the
residents of the respondents.

TABLE-15

TYPE OF HOUSE

Frequenc
Type of house Percentage (%)
y
Sheet houses 1 2
Thatched houses 4 8
Sheet with thatched roof 7 14
Brick with thatched roof 2 4
Brick with asbestos 34 68
Brick with tiles 1 2
Others 1 2
Total 50 100

The table shows that 68 percent of the houses are brick with asbestos, 14 percent of the houses
are sheet with thatched roof, 8 percent of the houses are thatched type of houses, 4 percent of the
houses are brick with thatched roof type of houses, 2 percent of the houses are sheet type of
houses, another 2 percent are brick with tiles type of houses and another 2 percent are other type
of houses.

It seems that the Government has provided more brick with asbestos type of houses for the
people in that community.
Environment around residence:

The Variable in Table – 16 helps the researcher to find out the toilet facility available in the
residents of the respondents.

TABLE-16

Percentage
Environment around residence Frequency
(%)
Clean 10 20
Air Pollution 26 52
Drainage Seepage 6 12
Garbage accumulation 2 4
Both Drainage Seepage & Garbage Accumulation 6 12
Total 50 100
ENVIRONMENT AROUND RESIDENCE

The table shows that 52 percent of the people have their environment around their residence
affected with air pollution, 20 percent have it clean, 12 percent have drainage seepage, another
12 percent have both drainage seepage and garbage accumulation and 4 percent have garbage
accumulation problems in their residence.

It seems that air pollution is more in the environment around the residence because the
community is situated in the middle of an urban setting.
Provisional /Vegetable shop – Accessible:

The Variable in Table – 17 helps the researcher to find out the toilet facility available in the
residents of the respondents.

TABLE-17

PROVISIONAL/VEGETABLE SHOP – ACCESIBLE

Provisional /Vegetable shop - Accessible Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 43 86
No 7 14
Total 50 100

The table shows that 86 percent have access to provisional/vegetable shops and 14 percent do not
have access to provisional/vegetable shops.

It seems that more shops are available for the people in that community as they are located in a
main area in the city.
Public transportation facilities:

The Variable in Table – 18 helps the researcher to find out the toilet facility available in the
residents of the respondents.

TABLE-18

Public transportation facilities Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 49 98
No 1 2
Total 50 100
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES

The table shows that 98 percent of the houses say that they have public transportation facilities
and 2 percent don’t.

According to the article in Hindu “Core slums are sometimes inaccessible by buses, and people
has to either take an auto rickshaw to reach the nearest bus stop (around two km) or walk the
distance. Peripheral slums, due to the remoteness with limited mobility options, incur high
transport costs”.(Page 21)

As the metro railway station and bus facilities are situated very close to the community, the
people have the required public transportation facilities available which are opposed to the article
in Hindu about the slums in Bangalore.
Hospitals near the locality:

The Variable in Table – 19 helps the researcher to find out if there is hospital facility available
for the respondents.

TABLE-19

HOSPITAL FACILITY NEAR RESIDENCE

Hospitals near your

Frequency Percentage (%)
locality
Yes 47 94
The table shows that 94
No 3 6
percent of them have replied
Total 50 100
positively when asked if
there is proper hospital facility near their locality. Only 6 percent of the respondents have given
negative answer for the same.

According to an article on Chintadripet slums one of the respondents while asking about the
reasons for denying the relocation plans by the TNSCB he says “Here almost 75% people are
employed in the Parcel office and we have all required facilities such as hospital, schools for our
children, our work place is nearby and we have got our own jobs. It is going to be really difficult
if we were asked to vacate to the suburbs where the state government would allot houses for us”.
(Page 25)

This reveals that the respondents enjoy the hospital facility available near their locality thus
citing reasons for denying the relocation plans.
Types of hospitals:

The Variable in Table – 20 helps the researcher to find out the types of hospitals for the
respondents.

TABLE- 20

TYPES OF HOSPITALS

Frequenc
Type of hospitals Percentage (%)
y
Government 32 64
Private 5 10
Both 10 20
NA 3 6
Total 50 100

The table shows that about 64 percent of the people in the locality get their illness treated in
government hospitals and 10 percent of them get assistance through private health care centres
and 20 percent of them go to both government and private hospitals and about 6% of them do not
go to hospital at all.

The results from the table show that the respondents are able to avail medical assistance
whenever necessary.
Schools near the locality

The Variable in Table – 21 helps the researcher to find out if there are proper educational
facilities for the respondents.

TABLE- 21

SCHOOLS IN THE LOCALITY

Schools near Locality Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 50 100
No - -
Total 50 100

The table shows that everybody (100 percent ) in the locality are aware of the schools in the
locality.

The Tamilnadu Education Department records reveal that the percentage of Enrolment in
Government schools is 100 percent. However only 2/10 students, go to a level of completing
their higher secondary education.

Though everyone is aware of the schools near the locality many become ignorant of its
significance as a child reaches class V or class VIII.
Types of schools:

The Variable in Table – 22 helps the researcher to find out the types of schools for the children
in the locality.

TABLE- 22

TYPES OF SCHOOLS

Type of
Frequency Percentage (%)
schools
Government 33 66
Private 6 12
Both 11 22
Total 50 100

The table shows that about 66 percent of the respondents are aware of the government school
near the locality and about 12 percent of them are aware of the Private schools and about 22
percent of them are aware of both government and private schools.

This shows that most of the people seek government schools for education and a few people who
can afford educate their children at least for a period of time in private schools.
Monthly income of the respondent:

The Variable in Table – 23 helps the researcher to find out the average monthly income of the
people in the locality. It also helps to analyze the economic status of the respondent.

TABLE- 23

MONTHLY INCOME

Percentage
Monthly Income Frequency
(%)
Below Rs 5000 4 8
Rs 5000-Rs 7000 31 62
Rs 7000-Rs 10,000 8 16
Rs 10,000- Rs 15,000 4 8
Rs15,000 and above 1 2
No Income 2 4
Total 50 100

The table shows that about 8 percent of the people earn a minimal amount of Rs. 5000 per
month.

A maximum of 62 percent of the respondents fall under the category of Rs 5000-Rs 7000. This
shows that most people in the locality earn above Rs. 5000 and below Rs. 7000.

About 16 percent of them earn around Rs. 7000 to Rs. 10000 and about 8 percent of them earn
above Rs. 10000 and below 15,000.

The least of 2 percent earn above Rs. 15000. About 4 percent of the respondents have no source
of income.
The economic status graph of the people seems erratic. It is high at some points and low to an
extent of being nil in some other. However most people make around Rs. 5000 to Rs. 7000 a
month to lead a reasonable life.

Property ownership:

The Variable in Table – 24 helps the researcher to find out the details about the properties owned
by the respondents so that their economic status can be analyzed in a better manner.

TABLE- 24

PROPERTY OWNED

Property
Frequency Percentage (%)
owned
Yes 5 10
No 45 90
Total 50 100

The table shows that only 10 percent of the respondents own property while about 90 percent of
them do not have any property of their own.

This is mainly because the people do not have the habit of saving. All that they do is spend the
money available earn and again spend it fully. This way of spending all that is available makes it
impossible to buy or own a property.
Type of property owned

The Variable in Table – 25 helps the researcher to find out the property owned by residents of
the respondents

TABLE NO:25

TYPE OF PROPERTY OWNED

Type of Property owned Frequency Percentage (%)

Land 2 4
House 3 6
NA 45 90
Total 50 100

The table shows that 90 percent people not having any property, 6 percent people have a house, 4
percent people have land.
Saving habit

The Variable in Table – 26 helps the researcher to find out that saving habit by residents of the
respondents

Savings habit Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 7 14
No 43 86
Total 50 100

The table shows that 86 percent people don’t save money and 14 percent are saving money.

Even as the women and children of the slums suffer from diseases, their men folk live under
cursing pressure. “We have to go make a living. When we come back home tired we have to deal
with money lenders. Then there are the domestic squabbles that never leave the poor. We need to
drink to sleep. Most of us are done by the time we are 40,” said Dinesh, a daily wage labourer

The above excerpt from an article shows the effect of not having proper saving habits.
Mode of saving

The Variable in Table – 27 helps the researcher to find out the mode of saving by residents of
the respondents

Percentage
Mode of saving Frequency
(%)
Bank 4 8
Chit funds 2 4
Post office - -
Insurance 1 2
NA 43 86
Total 50 100

The table shows the way people save 86 percent saving is not known, 8 percent save by bank, 4
percent save by chit funds and 2 percent save by insurance.

The Indian Overseas Bank is located just opposite to the Slum. The maximum savings of eight
per cent is found to be done through banks. This is because of the availability of bank at such a
close proximity.
Amount saved on monthly basis

The Variable in Table – 28 helps the researcher to find out the amount save on monthly basis by
residents of the respondents

Frequenc
Amount saved on monthly basis Percentage (%)
y
Rs500-Rs1000 3 6
Rs1000-Rs3000 4 8
Rs3000-Rs5000 - -
Rs5000 and above - -
NA 43 86
Total 50 100

The table shows that 86 percent are not registered, 8 percent save about Rs 1000 – Rs 3000, 6
percent save about Rs 500 – Rs 1000.
Debts

The Variable in Table – 29 helps the researcher to find out the debts by residents of the
respondents

TABLE NO: 29

DEBTS

Percentage
Debts Frequency
(%)
Yes 32 64
No 18 36
Total 50 100

The table shows that 64 percent people have debts, 36 percent says that they don’t have debts.

The increased presence of debts is mainly because of the absence of savings habits as well as the
epidemic vulnerabilities the people face due to unhygienic living conditions. Also the presence
of more of alcoholic addiction among the male population contributes a lot to the debt every
family holds.
Reason for borrowing money

The Variable in Table – 30 helps the researcher to find out the reason for borrowing money by
residents of the respondents

TABLE NO: 30

REASONS FOR BORROWING MONEY

Reasons for borrowing money Frequency Percentage (%)

Marriage 8 16
Education 4 8
Addiction - -
Medical expenses 4 8
Others 11 22
Any two 5 10
NA 18 36
TOTAL 50 100

The table shows that 36 percent are not accessible, 22 percent people are getting money for
others, 16 percent borrowed for marriage, 10 percent borrow for both reasons, 8 percent get
money for education and medical expenses.
 Source for borrowing money Frequency Percentage (%)
Local money lenders 12 24
Neighbours 6 12
Relatives 6 12
Friends 4 8
Others 4 8
NA 18 36
Total 50 100
Source for borrowing money

The variables in table no. 31 help the researcher to find out the respondents source for borrowing
money in debts.

TABLE NO: 31

SOURCE FOR BORROWING MONEY

The table show that 24 percent of the respondents borrowed money from the local money
lenders, 12 percent from neighbours, 12 percent from relative lives as well, 8 percent from
friends, 8 percent from others and 36 percent have responded none of the above.
Clearing the debts

The variables in table no:32 helps the researcher to find out at what point of time the respondents
clear the debts.

Table no. 32

CLEARING THE DEBTS

Vehicle Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 19 38
No 31 62
Total 50 100
During required to clear the debts Frequency Percentage (%)
Less than one year 12 24
One year 12 24
Two year 2 4
More than two years 6 12
NA 18 36
Total 50 100

the table shows that 24 percent of the respondents cleared their debts in less than one year and
one year as well. 4 percent cleared their debts within two years, 12 percent in more than two
years, and 36 percent have responded none of the above.

Vehicle

The variables in table no. 33 helps the researcher to find out the availability of vehicles owned by
the respondents.

Table no.33
 Availability of owned vehicles

The table show that 38 percent have owned vehicles and 62 percent doesn’t have owned
vehicles.
 Percentage
Type of Vehicle owned Frequency
(%)
Bicycle 1 2
Two wheeler 10 20
Three wheeler 1 2
Four wheeler 7 14
Heavy vehicle - -
NA 31 62
Total 50 100
Type of vehicle

The variables in table no. 34 helps the researcher to find out the type of vehicle owned by the
respondents.

TABLE NO: 34

TYPE OF VEHICLE

The table shows that 2 percent have owned Bicycle and Three wheeler as well, 20 percent have
owned Two wheeler (motor cycle), 14 percent have owned Four wheeler, and 62 percent doesn’t
have.
Vehicle maintenance

The variables in table no. 35 helps the researcher to find out how much the respondents spending
for the maintenance of their vehicles on monthly basis.

Table no.35

Maintenance of vehicle on a monthly basis

Maintenance of vehicle on a monthly basis Frequency Percentage (%)

Below Rs 500 6 12
Rs 500- Rs 1000 5 10
Rs 1000- Rs 2000 3 6
Rs 2000 and above 5 10
NA 31 62
Total 50 100
The table shows that 12 percent spends below Rs 500 for the maintenance of vehicle, 10 percent
spends Rs500- Rs100, 6 percent spends Rs.1000- Rs 2000, 10 percent spends Rs 2000 and
above, and 62 percent doesn’t spend on maintenance of vehicle on monthly basis.

Daily expenditure
The Variable in Table – 36 helps the researcher to find out the daily expenditure incurred of the
respondents.

TABLE-36

Daily expenditure incurred Frequency Percentage (%)

Rs 100- Rs 200 13 26
Rs 200- Rs300 18 36
Rs300- Rs 500 9 18
Rs500 and above 10 20
Total 50 100
Daily expenditure

The table shows that 26 percent spends Rs.100- Rs.200 daily expenditure, 36 percent Rs200
Rs.300, 18 percent Rs.300-Rs.500 and 20 percent daily expenditure incurred Rs.500 and above.

“Growing number of people in urban slums over the recent past creates extra pressure on
existing systems and challenge to government development activities like slum development and
poverty reduction strategy.” In a metropolitan city like Chennai an average of Rs. 200 to Rs. 300
per day is a very less amount and this depicts the presence of adverse poverty in Urban reality.
Alcoholism:

The variable in table no.37 helps the researcher to find out the respondents whether they are
addicted to alcoholism.

TABLE NO: 37

ALCOHOLISM

Alcohol consumption Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 24 48
No 26 52
Total 50 100

The Table shows that 48 percent are addicted to alcohol and 52 percent are not.

They are commonly seen as "breeding grounds" for social problems such as crime, drug
addiction, alcoholism, high rates of mental illness, and suicide.
Frequency of alcohol consumption

The variables in Table no.38 helps the researcher to find out the frequency of alcohol
consumption by the respondents.

TABLE NO: 38

FREQUENCY OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

Frequency of Alcohol consumption Frequency Percentage (%) The

Everyday 14 28 table
Once in two days 2 4
Once in a week 5 10
Once in a month 3 6
NA 26 52
Total 50 100
shows that 28 percent consume alcohol everyday, 4 percent once in two days, 10 percent once in
a week, 6 percent once in a month and 52 percent don’t consume alcohol.

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.

Amount spend on alcohol

The variables in table no: 39 helps the researcher to find out the amount spending on alcohol by
the respondents.

TABLE NO: 39

AMOUNT SPEND ON ALCOHOL

Amount spend on Alcohol on monthly basis Frequency Percentage (%)

Rs 500- Rs 1000 19 38
Rs 1000- Rs 3000 3 6
Rs 3000- Rs 5000 1 2
Rs 5000 and above 1 2
NA 26 52
Total 50 100

The table shows that 38 percent spends Rs.500-Rs.1000 monthly on alcohol, 6 percent spends
Rs.1000-Rs.3000, 2 percent spends Rs.5000 and above and 52 percent have responds none.
Disease

The variable in table no.40 helps the researcher to find out the diseases of the respondents’
caused due to garbage accumulation.

TABLE NO: 40

DISEASE

Diseases caused due to garbage accumulation Frequency Percentage (%)

Gastro intestinal infections 1 2
Dengue 6 12
Malaria 7 14
Typhoid 5 10
Others 18 36
No 13 26
Total 50 100

The table shows that 2 percent caused Gastro intestinal infections, 12 percent caused dengue, 14
percent caused malaria, 10 percent caused typhoid, 36 percent caused by others diseases due to
garbage accumulation and 26 percent does not affected by any kind of diseases.
House drain outlets connected to the street drainage system
The Variable in Table – 41 helps the researcher to find out the House drain outlets connected to
the street drainage system facilities available in the residents of the respondents.

TABLE-41

House drain outlets connected to the street drainage system

Drainage System Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 36 72
No 14 28
Total 50 100

The table shows that 28 per cent of the houses don’t have house drain outlets connected to the
street drainage system in their residents and 72 per cent have proper drainage facilities.

An improper drainage facility is one of the main reasons for the various diseases that spread in
the slum community which are quiet harmful.

“A small pit of drainage runs as the visual limit of the lane, much as a pavement does to the
city’s more fortunate roads.” The low standards of drainage facilities not only leads to a number
of diseases but also pops out into the streets during monsoon and makes it highly impossible to
even access the street.
How often do people fall sick?

The Variable in Table – 42 helps the researcher to find out how often people in the slums fall
sick.

TABLE-42

HOW OFTEN DO PEOPLE FALL SICK?

Illness Frequency Percentage (%)

Frequently 7 14
Once in a
6 12
month
Twice in a
8 16
month
Once in 6
10 20
months
Rarely 19 38
Total 50 100

The table shows that a majority of 38 of people in the slum hardly fall sick. About 20 of the
entire population of the slum fall sick once in 6 months. This is a rarity. 16 of the people in the
slum fall sick twice in a month and 12 once in a month. Only 14 of the people fall sick very
frequently.

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 faecal-oral disease and parasitic infestation.
Sanitary status of the public toilet
The Variable in Table – 43 helps the researcher to find out the sanitary status of the public toilets
in the community.

TABLE-43

SANITARY STATUS OF THE PUBLIC TOILET

Sanitary Status Frequency Percentage (%)

Clean 10 20
Easily Accessible 1 2
Smelly 18 36
Vandalized 21 42
Total 50 100

The table shows that 42 of the public toilets are vandalized and 36 of the toilets are smelly. Only
2 of the toilets are easily accessible. 10 of the public toilets are clean.

“We don’t have a janitor for the toilet and this remains uncleaned for a longer period. The
crummy from our side is a person named Kumar who has to take care of this toilet should feel
embarrass to abandon this completely since he is very indolent and he is a drunkard where he
thinks that this doesn’t immune anyone but his job is to clean the toilets regularly but he fails to
do it.” says Lakshmi who sells food on the slum.

The above excerpt stands as a proof to the result found in the survey.
Whether Electrical units in the locality are properly sealed?

The Variable in Table – 44 helps the researcher to find out whether the electrical units are
properly sealed in the community.

TABLE-44

Electrical units in the locality properly sealed

Electricity Units Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 16 32
No 34 68
Total 50 100

The table shows that 32 percent of the electrical units in the community are properly sealed. A
majority of 64 percent of the units are left open or open due to damage. If the electrical units are
not sealed properly it may lead to fatal accidents. These units should be sealed and checked for
damages regularly.

“We are at the mercy of armed gangs who supply power by pilfering electricity from the cables
of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.”

The above statement is a proof for the fact that electricity is being illegally stolen from the
TNEB cables. This is done by the people by breaking the seal of the electric boxes, thus leading
to unsealed electrical units. This has become a grave danger to playing children as well as
ignorant people.
Street lights

The Variable in Table – 45 helps the researcher to find out the availability of street lights in the
community.

TABLE-45

Street lights

Street lights Frequency Percentage (%)

Yes 33 66
No 17 34
Total 50 100

The table shows that 66 per cent of the street lights in the community works and the rest are
damaged and are not in proper working conditions.

According to the article by research scholar from Chennai on slum eviction plans and the protest
“people at the protest told her that though they have been living in their current locations for so
many years, they still do not have access to basic facilities like good drinking water, electricity,
ration card, and also the land ownership documents. This shows that the slum dwellers are facing
difficulties due to the lack of basic facilities like proper street lights, drainage, sewage etc.”
Age group of the people in the slum community

The Variable in Table – 46 helps the researcher to find out the age group of the people in the
slum community.

TABLE-46

AGE OF THE RESPONDENTS

Age Frequency Percentage (%)

16-30 24 48
30-45 18 36
45-60 6 12
60 and above 2 4
Total 50 100

The table shows that 48 percent of the respondents belong to the age group of 16-30 years, About
36 were in between 30-45. 12 of the people were around 45-60. Only 4 of the people were about
60 years of age.
Gender

The Variable in Table – 47 helps the researcher to find out the gender of the respondents.

TABLE – 47

GENDER OF THE RESPONDENTS

Gender Frequency Percentage (%)

Male 8 16

Female 42 84

Total 50 100

The table shows that 84 percent of the respondents are female and only 16 percent of the
respondents are male.
Caste

The Variable in Table – 48 helps the researcher to find out the caste the respondents belong to.

TABLE – 48

CASTE OF THE RESPONDENTS

Caste Frequency Percentage (%)

ST 2 4
SC 38 76
OBC 1 2
MBC - -
BC 9 18
OC - -
Total 50 100

The table shows that 76 percent of the respondents belong to scheduled caste, 18 percent of the
respondents belong to backward caste, 4 percent of the respondents belong to scheduled tribe and
only 2 percent of the respondents belong to OBC.

As per the 2001 census, about 25 of slum dwellers in the state were dalits, it has gone up by 7
since then.

Marital Status
The Variable in Table – 49 helps the researcher to find out the marital status of the respondents.

TABLE – 49

MARITAL STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS

Marital Status Frequency Percentage (%)

Married 40 80

Single 5 10

Divorced -

Widow 4 8

Total 50 100

The above table shows that 80 percent of the respondents are married, 10 percent of the
respondents are single and 8 percent of the respondents are widows.

Educational qualification
The Variable in Table – 50 helps the researcher to find out the educational qualification of the
respondents.

TABLE - 50

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

Education Qualification Frequency Percentage (%)

Don’t know to read and Write 20 40
Primary Schooling 10 20
Secondary Schooling 16 32
Higher Secondary 3 6
Degree holder - -
Technical Studies - -
Others 1 2
Total 50 100

The table shows that 40 percent of the respondents do not know to read and write, 32 percent of
the respondents completed their secondary schooling, 20 percent of the respondents have
finished their primary schooling, 6 percent of the respondents are have completed their higher
secondary schooling and 2 percent of the respondents have completed their diploma after
schooling.

According 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 don´t have money to send our children to good school and the local
school is of no use." Thus, 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.

The survey conducted at the community also reveals the same.

Religion

The Variable in Table – 51 helps the researcher to find out the religion the respondent belongs to.

TABLE – 51

RELIGION OF THE RESPONDENTS

Religion Frequency Percentage (%)

Hindu 35 70
Christian 15 30
Muslim - -

The table shows that 70 percent of the respondents belong to Hinduism and 30 percent of the
respondents belong to Christianity.

It is inferred that majority of the respondents belong to Hinduism. Since the population migrated
from a group following a particular religion.
C H A P T E R – IV

QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY I

Name : Santhosh

Age : 13 years

Gender : Male

Maritalstatus : Single

Educationalqualification : VIII grade

Occupation : Presently staying at home

Income : NA

Family constellation

S.no Name Age Relationship Income Remark

1 Babu Expired Father - Alcoholic.

Died when the
client was 7
years old.
2 Lalli 35 Mother - Said that she is
being involved
in an illicit
relationship
and had got 2
sons through
the
relationship.
She is not
bothered about
the client.
3 Leelavathy 65 Paternal ₨. 1000/ Works as a
 Grand- mother month housemaid for
28 years.
Washes
vessels,
clothes, and
sweeps and
mops the floor.
Takes care of
the Client.
4 Two brothers 15, 19 Step brothers - It is being
said that they
physically hurt
the client.

Description:

Santhosh has completed his VIII grade from RBC school, Chintadripet. The client was
affected by chicken pox some time back and as an effect of the disease, the client’s nervous
system has been attacked by a virus. Leelavathy said that many doctors from various government
hospitals have tested the client’s brain through scanning and various other technologically
advanced diagnosing methods, however they could not find exactly the cause of the illness. They
just say that the virus is present in the client’s brain.

Effects of illness in the client:

Physical:

The client could not stand for a long time. The client has nervous breakdowns often as a result of
which he has wounds on the legs and hands. The client has become very weak and skinny
malnourished. He gets sudden shifts and shocks that he turns his head suddenly. He is also not
able to speak or write properly.

Emotional:
The client is deeply affected by the family situations. He is deprived of the care of a father and
love of mother which has made him hate both of them. The client seems to have “Emotional
Tremor”. The client is very much disturbed by the fact that he is unable to go to school. It is
important to note that the client studies well and loves his English teacher a lot. The people in the
community also said that Santhosh is a good dancer.

Social:

The client’s illness has received more of a social ridicule than acceptance. He has been bullied
by his school mates that the head master insisted on discontinuing his studies until he gets cured.
However, he is badly bullied and hurt by his step- brothers when Leelavathy paati is out for work
and the small boy had to stay alone at home.

Current Status of the Problem:

The Client is being checked by the government hospital doctors once in two weeks. The grand
mother has managed to get financial assistance from various sources for the medical expenses of
the client. The client is under medications as prescribed by the doctors and hopes to be cured as
early as possible and awaits to get back to school anytime.

CASE STUDY II

Name : DivyaDharshini
Age : 25 years

Gender : Female

Marital Status : Married

Educational Qualification : 9thstd Pass out

Occupation : Maid

Income :Rs 200 per day

Family Constellation:

S.no Name Age Relationship Income Remark

Auto-
200 – 300 per
1 Murthy 30 Husband Rickshaw
day
driver

2 Murali 5 Son - -

3 Arunachalam 3 Son - -

8
4 Saraswathy Daughter - -
months

Description:

The trainee initially found very difficult to interact with the client named DivyaDarshini. Her
husband Murthy is an Auto-Rickshaw driver in a nearby auto stand. Murthy earns around Rs 200
– 300 per day but does not give the money to the family members; instead he spends the entire
income for alcohol consumption.

DivyaDharshini has to work as a maid in nearby houses in order to feed her family. Murthy is
also addicted to tobacco. He consumes alcohol everyday and smokes 2 packets of cigarettes. He
started using tobacco and alcohol from the age of 22 due to work pressure and stress. She also
told that the people are aware of the ill–effects caused by excessive alcohol consumption and
also about the respiratory problem one gets due to chain smoking. Divya often tells him about
the consequences of using tobacco and alcohol consumption but he never lends his ears to her
continuous cries. Despite of her efforts to rescue him from the bad habit, Murthy comes home
every night to abuse her verbally and physically sabotaging her self-respect in front of the
neighborhood.

Divya also mentioned almost all the local men in the slum are addicted to alcohol, and many
have died due to over consumption of alcohol .She also mentioned about her dissatisfaction over
the decision of Tamilnadu slum clearance board to relocate the area people to locations such as
chemmenchery and kannakinagar. She strongly feels that the decision to relocate them will not
improve their condition but will make it worse for survival since they are now comfortably
settled in the place where they have been living for more than 50 years. Divya gave an
alternative suggestion to build housing boards in that very area by demolishing the existing
buildings thus renovating the entire place making it convenient for the dwellers. She also
mentioned that lack of basic sanitation facility such as unclean public toilet in the area, drainage
water accumulation on the roads due to rain and governments negligence to allocate garbage
collectors to keep the area clean. She concludes saying that every day is a fight for survival

Case Study III

Name : Meena
Age : 35 years

Gender : Female

Maritalstatus : Widower

Educationalqualification : V grade

Occupation : House Maid

Income : ₨. 1000/ month

Family constellation

S. No Name Age Relationship Income Remark

1 Arumugam Expired Husband - Died 7months

ago. Was
working under
the
government.
2 Names unknown 4 and 6 Two children - Seem
malnourished.

Description:

Meena was sitting in the corner of the second street. Behind her was a filthy open drainage.
Meena had a vessel full of old rice and pickle. She was feeding a day old rice to her kids of age
four and six amidst the polluted and filthy environment. When asked Meena on her opinion
about the slum and the livelihood challenges she faces, Meena said that she resides in the second
street and she is highly disappointed by the government’s indifferent behavior towards her
pension application. She said her husband expired 7 months ago and she has been slogging hard
for the past 6 months to get the pension benefits of her husband. She complained that the
government is being highly irresponsible and lethargic.
She also mentioned about the unclean filthy environment. She showed the open drainage going
behind her and asked if it is healthy to live in such an environment filled with debris. She also
said that the children are growing in a highly unhygienic environment and that it is the sole
reason behind their malnourished growth. She mistook the trainees to be from the media and
requested that the video has to be published in the media so that everyone will become aware of
the struggling masses in the area. She also hopes that would bring about a change in the
government’s behavior.

She then showed an old lady by the street corner and said that she is handicapped and is
abandoned by her children. She said that it will be very helpful if the government could make her
some way of earning her daily bread by providing assistances like a wheel chair or a petty shop.

She requested that the government must speedup the process of providing grants like pension as
it takes a lot of money and energy of the poor people by the time their requests are met.

CASE STUDY IV

Name : Valarmathi
Age : 30 years old

Gender : Female

Marital status : Widow

Educational qualification : Nil

Occupation : Maid

Income : Rs 1000- 2000 per month

Family constellation is contradictory.

Description:

Valarmathi a thirty year old widow with three kids is an active volunteer associated with the
NGO –World Vision –India and immediately agreed to give a documentary about the plight of
the Chintadripet slum when requested by the trainees. She spoke about the lack of adequate street
lights and basic facilities required to lead a healthy life style by the localites. She also recalled a
suicide incident which occurred a couple of weeks ago in the locality. Elango- a man in his early
twenties had committed suicide by hanging himself due to depression which was aggravated by
excessive alcohol consumption. He is survived by his one year old daughter and wife who is
working as a nurse in Royappettah government hospital. She adds saying that many children as
young as 13 yrs are addicted to drugs and almost all the men in the locality consume alcohol on a
daily basis. The local people have no idea about the resources of the drug supply and all the
complaints by the community people to find out the source for drugs fell on deaf ears.

Valarmathi spoke about the local government schools which provide good education but often
declares holiday for minor reasons which subsequently affects children’s studies .She also
recalled an incident which happened three months before where a small kid was overrun by a car
.The mother of the kid initially assumed that the kid would have gone for beach and had no idea
about her kid being overrun by a car driven by a reputable public figure. Though he paid a
compensation of Rs 5 lakh at the court the parents of the kid did not receive a penny yet and are
being made to visit the court repeatedly to claim their compensation amount. She also spoke
about the garbage pile at the madapam which is the source of mosquito breeding. She
emphasized on the fact that the government has to take steps to allocate janitors to clean the
public toilet inside the community as it is mostly vandalized by the people. She also said that it is
high time the government clears up the garbage accumulated in the madapam and allocate
garbage allocators to collect garbage from each house on a regular basis.

CASE STUDY V

Name : PREM. P
Age : 28 YEARS

Gender : MALE

Marital status : MARRIED

Educational qualification : NIL

Occupation : COOLIE

Income : 200-500 PER DAY

Family constellation

S.no Name Age Relationship Income Remark

1 PREM P 28 200-500 PER ALCOHOLIC

DAY
2 AMULU 25 WIFE NIL

3 RAHUL 8 SON NIL

Description

On Survey To Chintadripet Slum, the trainee had personally interviewed a person about the day-
to- day life and livelihood in slum. The trainee also asked about the socio-economic status of the
family. The trainee had a conversation with Mr. Prem residence of Chintadripet living with his
wife (Amulu) and eight years son Rahul. He is a Coolie who earn 200-500 per day. Mode of
income is daily wages. He spends his daily wage the very same day . His wife is a homemaker
and they live in a brick house with thatched roof. Prem said that he earns , but has no habits of
savings.
Housing facilities of Mr. PREM: He lived with a family in small brick house with thatched roof.
There is no kitchen in the house. They had to cook food outside of their house. They use fire
wood stoves. There is no attached bathro1om & toilet. They have small Television issued by the
Government. Prem doesn’t have single vehicles. Prem said they need housing facilities from the
government so that they can live happily and can improve changes in their lifestyle. He is more
concerned about housing facilities than public property to be provided.

Adequacy of Water: the respondent (Prem) said they have water supply everyday but the
adequate quality of water is not good. They are partially satisfied with the quality of water they
have.

Hospital: Mr. Prem said there is no hospital near to chintadripet slum. But the people are aware
of government hospital which is 1km away from the area of residence. The respondent said they
are not used to it (hospital). Mr. Prem is a healthy person he rarely suffer from illness.

Debts: Mr. Prem has no habits of taking and rendering debts from others.

Electricity supply: they have proper electricity supply but the wire lines are not proper. During
rain sometime these wires leads to short circuit.

Awareness: The respondent told that an NGO WORLD VISION INDIA (Non-Govt.
Organization) often visits their area and conduct few awareness programs regarding health and
education. But the NGO is more concentrate on the education awareness especially to children.
They provide education facilities for primary school children.

Alcoholism: Mr. Prem has a habit of consuming alcohol. He consumes alcohol once in a week.
He spent minimum Rs.500 for alcohol. But he sometimes consumes it twice in a week. He said
the habit of consuming alcohol doesn’t affect his family. His wife never objects him for
consuming alcohol. They live happily and never had conflicts.

Suggestions:

 The government should provide more housing facilities.

 The drainage system should be made clean.
 The sanitation around the area must be maintained.
  The government should provide more public toilet or rest room.
 The garbage should remove from their area because it leads pollution.
 Street lights are available but not working. The street light should be repaired.

CASE STUDY VI

Name : Muthazhagi
Age : 22

Gender : Female

Marital status : Married

Educational qualification : 10th Standard

Occupation : Housewife

Income : Rs. 3000

Family constellation

S.no Name Age Relationship Income Remark

1. Kanimozhi 5 Daughter -

2. Anbumurthy 25 Husband Rs.3000

Description

The trainee met the client Mrs. Muthazhagi in the community and discussed about the
lifestyle of the client and the client’s family. The client told the trainee about the various
problems faced by the client and also about the problems the community faces on the whole. The
client lives in the slum community for the past four years now. The client got married and got
shifted to the community. The trainee questioned the client on the various problems faced and
also about the livelihood of the client.

The trainee used questionnaire to get the information about the physical living, economic
status and the livelihood patterns of the client in the community. The trainee also learnt that there
is no domestic violence the client faces. It is only the various problems such as improper
lighting, improper sanitation and other related problems that worries the client. There were
various challenges the client faced during the 4 years of living in the community. The client and
the client’s family faced numerous problems in the community. One of the main problems is the
lack of proper sanitation facility in the community. It is evident that the people in the slums
might sometimes have to bear with the unpleasant and the dirtiness of the toilets in the locality.
These toilets are not maintained properly and that it is very difficult for women in the community
to use them. The other livelihood challenge faced by the people of the slum is the accumulation
of garbage in the middle of the slum. Due to this, there are several diseases spreading in the slum
community. Mostly mosquitos breed on this garbage and this causes a lot of problems to the
people of the slums in the form of mosquito bites and this may lead to diseases such as malaria,
dengue and chikunguniya. These are the main problems faced by the client in the community.
The client also says that she does not have any problem in the personal/family life.

Case Study VII

Name : Hemavathi
Age : 28

Gender : Female

Maritalstatus : Married

Educationalqualification : 10th

Occupation : Housewife

Income : Rs.4000

Family constellation

S.no Name Age Relationship Income Remark

1 Anand 30 Husband Rs.4000 The client’s

husband is a
fish vendor.
2 Anish 2 Son - The client’s
son.

Description:

The trainee met up with the client in the community and discussed about the various
livelihood challenges faced by the client and the family of the client in the slums of chintadripet.
The client also stressed upon the various problems faced by the people in the community on the
whole and the issues pertaining to their day to day living.

The name of the client the trainee spoke to was mrs.Hemavathi. She resides in the slum
community with her family. She is about 28 years old. She faces a lot of problems in the slums.
The client has a son of about 2 years. The client’s husband works as a Fish Vendor in the nearby
fish market.
The major livelihood challenges faced by the client as told to the trainee were improper drainage
facility in the slum community. The client said that the people in the slum faced the same
problems as faced by the client as well. These common problems may add on to lack of proper
sanitation facility in the slums. The client also spoke about the toilet facilities and how poorly the
public toilets are maintained near the community and also expressed their dislike on the
authorities who maintain these public toilets. The other problems faced by the client would be
frequent low voltage problems.

Case study VIII

Name of the respondent : Vijayakumari

Age : 32
Marital status : married

Occupation : housemaid

Family income : 4000

Family constellation:

S.no Name Age Relationship Income Remark

1 Shankar 30 Husband Rs.4000 The client’s

husband is a
Driver.
2 Vaneshti 5 Daughter - -

3 Janani 10 Daughter - -

4 Rani 58 Mother- in- - -

law

DISCRIPTION ABOUT LIVELIHOOD:

The trainee interviewed Vijayakumari, a slum person, spoke about the various social issues and
problems that are faced by her. She spoke about the slum facilities which are very much
unsatisfactory due to the lack of proper water supply and sanitation system. She said the open
disposal of wastes in the area is causing severe pollution which further leads to the spread of
many common diseases such as cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea. Besides this the solid waste
management and drainage system are totally unsatisfactory in the slum.she also mentioned about
the crisis of water supply and sanitation facilities which they are facing in their daily life.The
people in chindadripet receives water from the common water pump which they are not satisfied
with. She also mentioned about the sanitation situation which is in a more pathetic condition than
the water supply.
There is only a common restroom for the whole population of chindadripet where each one have
to pay 2 rupees for each entry which is not sufficient. Food wastes ,paper ,rubbish ,ashes and
residues ,special wastes such as street sweeping,roadside litter are the main solid waste. The
people are not satisfied with the existing solid waste disposing system.She also spoke about other
problems like infirm housing structures ,acute overcrowding ,faculty alignment of
streets ,inadequate lighting, paucity of safe drinking water,water logging during rains.She also
spoke about the lack of availability of basic physical and social services.

She mentioned that many houses often lack proper ventilations as majority of the houses do not
have windows. She does not have a bank account which makes it difficult to save her daily
minimal earnings as mostly it is spent for the day’s expenses, this further forces them to take
loan for various other expenses including their chidren’s education. Among the other things she
also said that alcohol consumption is far greater among men and use of tobacco is generally more
prevalent in slum. Alcohol and drugs affect almost all areas of life including occupation, health,
family, marriage, social and finance.

The other major problem she mentioned was low level of literacy. The main problem being that
the parents are unable to pay the school fees.

Vijayakumari spoke about various problems affecting their slum but mostly focused on their
difficulty with the facilities that are available over there which makes it difficult for them to live
there. She also pointed out that children run away from school and in this fear the parents are
hesitant to send their children to school. Alcohol like in most slums is one of the major problems
which cause waste of their minimal income.

INTERVIEWS

Person interviewed: Ms. Gomati

Location: Slum of Chinthadripet

On a visit to the slum of Chinthadripet, the trainee met with a lady, Ms. Gomatia housewife. She
was a resident of that slum. Seated along with her neighbours, she was spending time doing
nothing but speaking to them. She was old and also had a daughter-in-law who was sweeping the
front of the house. When Ms., the client was approached, she had no problem opening up to the
conditions of that slum and the problems present there. She has been a dweller in that slum since
she was born there. Her family had been part of that slum for more than two generations. She had
married a person from that slum itself and had settled there. Hence that slum was her home.
When asked about the condition of living in that slum, she seemed okay with it. Because she had
stated that all the necessary resources were available there. She had said that there was a
vegetable market, a bus stop and even the electric train was situated near their slum. So buying
materials for food and travel was not a problem. Furthermore, there were many private and also
government schools present close to the slum. Hospitals were also located close and so medical
emergencies were treated easily. But she stated that all the people in that area were healthy and
never suffered from any type of illness and that the visit to the hospital was very rare. When
asked about the schemes provided by the government, her daughter-in-law answered that many
of the schemes were not given by the government and that they were ignored. On giving her
answer, she was scolded by her mother-in-law not to say such answers, that if the government
heard about this, they would think that these people were not happy about their situation of living
and would relocate them to some other place, as the government had already promised. The
government had said that they would move them to another better place and provide them with
good houses, as the slum clearance board was trying to clear that slum. Then the client again
answered that they were getting all the schemes necessary from the government and that they
were content with their status of living there.

On asked about the alcohol consumption in that area, she too like many women to whom the
trainees had spoken to, said that alcoholism was a major problem prevailing in that area and also
that even small children used to consume alcohol. When asked about the status of alcohol
consumption in her house, she said that it was present and that the family was now accustomed
to the alcohol consumption habit of the men in the house. Hence they made no effort to stop this
habit and so it had become an everyday habit. Even though the family was suffering from debts
that needed to be paid, they allowed the men to waste money on alcohol. She had stated that this
kind of situation was normal in that area, as the men living there complained that they could not
sleep if they did not consume alcohol. Then when asked about the drainage system and the
disposal of waste, she said that the drains were not at all proper and that it was a major problem,
as it was situated so close to the houses and that even the cooking was done close to it, many
insects from the drains would come and sit there on it. She also said that the garbage was
disposed in a mound by the whole area. The trainee noticed that the area that the client had
mentioned was a mound that had been overflowing with garbage and was causing much health
hazards to the people living there. Other than this, the client seemed content with her living in
that place.

Person interviewed: Mrs. Eshwari

Place:chemmachery

During one of the visits to the slum of semmencherry, the trainee met with a middle aged lady
name Eshwari. She was married to Nagaraj, a tailor. They had two children Yuvasri who was
doing her sixth standard and Nandha Kumar who was doing his fourth standard. Their condition
of living in that area was not very good. They had many problems pertaining to their livelihood.
They seemed to have problem with the water supply and water related matters. Other than all
other basic necessary resouces seemed to be a problem. Food was a major issue,they have to
cook outside of their house.they use fire wood stoves as they did not have sufficient money .
there is no attached bathroom and toilet. There was no proper place to dispose the waste and
there was no one to collect it as well. The open disposal of wastes in the area is causing severe
pollution which further leads to the spread of many common diseases such as
cholera,dysentery,diarrhoea. during rainy times would overflow and move into the streets along
with the rain water. The street drainage system is so closely built to the houses, that she felt that
it was a major problem, as insects from the drain would sit on the food. She also said that the
houses built by the Government were so small that they had to use a single room for ,cooking
and sleeping. There was no toilet attached with the house. She mentioned that everytime they
had to use a proper bathroom, which at times would be filled with queue of people waiting to use
it. She said that there was also problem regarding transport, hospitals and schools.
Many houses often lack proper ventilation as majority of the houses do not have windows. She
does not have a bank account which makes it so difficult to save.When asked about the economic
status of her family, she said that her husband earned 300 rupees a day through his tailoring
business. He would give 200 rupees to his wife and the other 100 he would use to consume
alcohol everyday. The 200 that she receives is not sufficient to feed a family of four for a day.
And hence she had borrowed some money from some money lenders and also was in debt. She
still is paying her debts. Her husband consumes alcohol everyday and that money is wasted for
alcohol consumption itself. They have no knowledge about savings and no money has been
saved for emergency times. But the locality according to her is not safe,as they did not know the
knowledge of the neihbours near by. She has been living in that slum since she got married to her
husband for the past 7 years. She feels that developing the drainage system of the slum would be
a major development to that community.

Person interviewed: Mrs. mahalakshmi

Place: Chintadripet

Date: 18.09.2013

The trainee found very difficult to interact with the client initially, the person was asking lot of
questions like why are u taking, for what are you taking, for whom you are taking and lot of
other questions. The trainee tried to interact with the mahalakshmi and tried to get much more
information about the place and the livelihood challenges that they face in that area. After
introducing and telling about me the client showed some interest , The client collected the basic
details about the client and also of family members.

mahalakshmi works as a maid in the morning in the nearby houses . Her husband passed away 2
months before due to over consumption of alcohol. He is a painter in the nearby construction
area where he earns around 200 per day, he never gives money to the family to prepare food
instead he drinks alcohol and lie in the streets or roads that are there. The children have to search
for him all day long and bring back to home. If he comes normal he used to ask his wife to give
money for drinking, if she doesn’t give means he used to beat him and abuse her badly standing
in the streets. They tried up lot of treatment they even went to some private hospitals to abolish
the consumption of alcohol. But all the treatment went on a fail, and now he is no more. If he
could have listened to her wife and children, he would have lived long.

mahalakshmi also told that she has not received the widow pension till date. And the people in
that area are living an hectic life in that place. There is no proper water facility, water will be
available everyday but one day water will be clean another day it will be very dirty that it can’t
be used for anything. No proper sanitation (or) bathroom facilities . There is no public toilet
available for all the 634house and 25000 people of that area. Many changes are needed for the
area.

Interview with thozhamai coordinator:mrs.lilly

 INTRODUCTION ON PRA AND ITS TECHNIQUES

Participatory Rural Appraisal is a technique which is used to find the resources available and the
livelihood patterns in the community. The PRA technique has been used by the trainees in order
to focus on the various resources and also the way the people live there in that community.

During the 1980s, PRA was firstly developed in India and Kenya, mainly supported by NGOs
operating at grass-roots level. Until today PRA evolved so fast in terms of the methodology, the
creation of new tools and specifically in the different ways it is applied.

PRA places emphasis on empowering local people to assume an active role in analyzing their
own living conditions, problems and potentials in order to seek for a change of their situation.
These changes are supposed to be achieved by collective action and the local communities are
invited to assume responsibilities for implementing respective activities. The members of the
PRA team act as facilitators. Here it is no longer the external experts but rather the local people
themselves who “own” the results of a PRA Workshop. Consequently an important principle of
PRA is to share the results of the analysis between the PRA team and the community members
by visualisation, public presentations and discussions during meetings. There are various
techniques such as Venn diagram, wealth ranking, social map, resource cards, seasonal calendar
etc.

Venn diagram is a tool to reveal the relationship between those service providing entities and
their significance. First of all, the community must understand the service providing institutes,
organizations, and individuals in the area. Then the Venn diagram prepares based on two rules as
the relationship is inversely related to the distance and the significance is proportionally related
to the size of the denoted circle. Accordingly, the circle (which represents the service providing
entities) arranged as a Venn diagram.

Venn Diagram on Institutions

Description:

The Venn diagram on Institutions shows institutions, organizations, groups and important
individuals found in the Community, as well as the people’s views of their importance in the
community. Additionally the Diagram explains who participates in these groups in terms of
gender and wealth. The Institutional Relationship Diagram also indicates how close the contact
and cooperation between those organizations and groups is.

Objectives:

 To identify external and internal organizations/groups/important persons active in the

community
 To identify who participates in local organizations/institutions by gender and wealth
 To find out how the different organizations and groups relate to each other in terms of
contact, co-operation, and flow of information and provision of services

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TECHNIQUE:

1) If time allows it will be good to form separate focus groups for women and men. Make sure
that also the poorest and most disadvantaged join the group.

2)Make sure that you have all material that is needed. You can a) either draw / write with a stick
on a soft ground or b) you might use a BIG sheet of paper, pencil and markers. If you decide to
use paper, people should first use a pencil to be able to still change the size of the circles that the
participants will draw.
3) Explain to the participants the three objectives (see above) of the Venn diagram on
institutions.

4) Ask the participants which organizations/institutions/groups are found in the Community and
which other ones from elsewhere are working with them. Make sure that they also think of the
small not formal groups like e.g. neighborhoods committees. These questions will be useful to
ask:

What kinds of ways of assisting each other do exist among people? Which local groups are
organized along environmental issues (water, grazing, arable land), economic issues (saving,
credit, agriculture, and live stock), social issues (health, literacy, religion, tradition, education,
sport). Are their political groups? Who makes important decisions in the Community?

5) Ask one of the villagers to write down all the institutions that are mentioned and to give each
organization a symbol which everybody can understand.

6) Ask the participants to draw a big circle in the centre of the paper or on the ground that
represents them.

7) Ask them to discuss for each organization how important it is for them. The most important
ones are then drawn as a big circle and the less important ones as smaller circles. Ask the
participants to compare the sizes of the circles and to adjust them so that the sizes of the circles
represent the importance of the institution, organization or group.

8) Every organization/group should be marked with the name or symbol.

9) Ask them to discuss in which way they benefit from the different organizations.

10) The facilitator and note taker have to listen very carefully and the note taker writes down,
why the different organizations are considered important or less important!

11) Ask them to show the degree of contact/co-operation between themselves and those
institutions by distance between the circles. Institutions which they do not have much contact
with should be far away from their own big circle. Institutions that are in close contact with the
participants and which, whom they co-operate most, should be inside their own circle. The
contact between all other institutions should also be shown by the distance between the circles on
the map:

largely distanced circles: no or little contact or co-operation

circles close to each other: only loose contacts exist
touching circles: some co-operation
overlapping circles: close co-operation

12) Ask them which institutions are only accepting women or men as members. Are their any
institutions or groups that do provide services either only for men or only for women? Show the
answers by marking the circles with a common symbol for men or women.

13) Ask them to discuss in which organizations poor people do not participate and why. Ask if
there are any services of certain organizations from which the poorer people are usually
excluded. Mark these institutions on the map by using a symbol for poor. You might also ask if
there are other groups of people that usually are excluded from some of these institutions or
services.

14) Ask the participants which institutions/groups are addressing household food security and
nutrition issues. Ask them to discuss in which way they address these issues? Mark the
mentioned institutions with a common symbol.

15) Only if time and the motivation of the participants allows, ask the group to discuss and
document the strength and weaknesses of those institutions which were reported as most
important.

Material needed: The note taker will need the Documentation Sheet for the Venn diagram, this
tool sheet, white paper for copying the map

1) If drawing on the ground: soft ground, sticks and local material for symbols.
2) If drawing on a paper: BIG sheet of paper, pencils, and markers
Time: 1.5 - 2 hours

Hints: If people find it difficult to understand this tool, it will be helpful to draw a simple
example for them.

Questions:

1. Which organizations/institutions/groups are working in or with the community?

2. Which institutions/groups do the villagers regard as most important, and why?
3. Which groups are addressing household food security and nutrition issues?
4. Which organizations work together?
5. Are there groups which are meant for women or men only?
6. Are some particular groups or kind of people excluded from being members of or
receiving services from certain institutions?
Venn diagram of Chintadripet slum:
For this research work on the slums of Chinthadripet, the trainees have been instructed to use
PRA techniques to find the resources around the slum, as well as all the institutions. The trainee
also used a unique method of PRA, Need ranking and also applied another PRA technique, Venn
diagram.

The core objective of using need ranking is to find out the various needs of the people of
different class in the Chinthadripet slum. Venn diagram tells which organization is of higher
importance and most needed for the slum people.

The major need for the people of that community is:

1. Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital

2. Jai Gopal School

3. Slum Clearance Board

4. Presidency college for boys

5. Ethiraj college for women

6. Zion Church

7. Marina beach

8. Public health Centre

9. Police station

10. Egmore railway station.

Wealth Ranking:

Also known as wellbeing ranking or vulnerability analysis, a technique for the rapid collection
and analysis of specific data on social stratification at the community level. This visual tool
minimizes literacy and language differences of participants as they consider factors such as
ownership of or uses rights to productive assets, lifecycle stage of members of the productive
unit, relationship of the productive unit to locally powerful people, availability of labor, and
indebtedness.

Objectives:

1. To investigate perceptions of wealth differences and inequalities in a community

2. To identify and understand local indicators and criteria of wealth and well-being
3. To map the relative position of households in a community

Methods:
1. Ranking
2. Mapping
Selecting Key Informants:

Carry out the exercise with a few key informants who know the community well.

Facilitator:

Two PRA-team members

Key Questions:

1. What are local perceptions of wealth, well-being and inequality?

2. What socio-economic groupings are there in the community and who belongs in what group?

Steps:
1. A numbered list is made of all the households in the community (see social map) and the name
each household head and the household number is written on a separate card.

2. A number of key informants who know the village and its inhabitants very well are asked to
sort the cards in as many piles as there are wealth categories in the community, using their own
criteria.
3. After sorting, ask the informants for the wealth criteria for each pile and differences between
the piles. Assure the informants of confidentiality and do not discuss the ranks of individual
families, so as not to cause bad feelings within the community.

4. List local criteria and indicators derived from the ranking discussion.
 FOCUSED GROUP DISCUSSION

The trainees also used Focused Group discussion session with sixteen participants from the
slums to get an insight about the common problems and about the different questions under the
various capitals of sustainable livelihood framework such as follows.

Human Capital:

1. How many works in a family in an average?

On an average of two members from each family work to earn a living .
2. How many illiterate adult members are there in a family?
On an average around 3 members in a family are found to be illiterate
3. What is the average education qualification of the people?
On an average everyone has completed higher school education.
4. What are the various occupation people are engaged in general?
On an average men work as auto rickshaw /truck drivers and women work as maids in the
neighborhoods houses.
5. What specific skills are possessed by people in the locality?
On an average people do part time jobs as electricians, painters and tailors.
6. How much they earn in part time jobs if any?
On an average they earn Rs 50 to Rs 100 per day in part time jobs if any.
7. Are there any unemployed people?
On an average almost every adult in the house works to earn a living.
 8. What is the normal work duration of the people?
The durations varies according to the profession they have taken up to.
9. What is the approximate distance people travel to reach their work location?
The travel distance depends on the profession undertaken by the respondents

Financial Capital:

1. What is the Average income of the people?

On an average they earn up to Rs 200 – Rs 500 per day.
2. What is the Average amount of money saved per month?
Hardly people save from their income since most of their income is spent on alcohol/drug
consumption.

3. What is the Average expenditure of the people per day?

On an average they spent Rs 100 to Rs 200 every day
4. What is the average mode of saving?
Hardly people save money for their future.
5. Source of capital loans for entrepreneurship?
On an average people get loans from local money lenders.
6. Source of money in case of emergencies if any?
On an average people lend money from neighbors in case of emergency.
7. Do people have debts in average?
Yes, on an average people have debts to pay.
8. How many wealthy families are there in the locality?
There are three to four wealthy families in the locality and they play a major role
9. Average amount of money required for satisfying day to day requisite
On an average people require at least Rs 200 to satisfy their day to day requisite.

Social Capital:

1. Types of festival celebrated in the locality

Karumari Amman Thiruvizha and Christmas at the Zion church .
2. Place of gathering to celebrate festival
 Karumari Amman Temple and Zion church .
3. Is any political leader involved in the slum?
Mr .Vallaiyan who belong to the ruling party provides help for the local people and plays
the role of decision maker in the locality
4. Are there any men and women youth groups in the slum?
There are no youth groups in the locality
5. Are there any group conflict?
No, there isn’t any explicit group conflict but there seems to be a conflict between two
different political parties.

Physical Capital:

1. Do people use internet often?

No, they do not use any internet connection.
2. Are there any telephone lines available in the locality?
No, there aren’t any telephone lines in the locality
3. Do all use mobile phones?
People mostly use cell phones for communication, almost everyone have cell phones
4. How many hospitals are there around the locality?
There are around 13 hospitals around the locality such as Rajiv Gandhi govt. general
hospital Royappettahgovernment general hospital, Kilpaukgovernment hospital , Govt.
Eye hospital, Govt . Maternity hospital, Govt. Children hospital, Santhosh hospital for
heart (Private) , Apollo hospitals (Private ), government TB hospital ,Public health care
center , TANSACS center for treating AIDS patients and government dental hospital
5. How many temples are there around the locality?
There are around 4 temple, A Jain temple, A karrumari Amman koil, Mundakani Amman
koil and AMurugan temple.
6. How many churches are there around the locality?
There are 3 churches in the locality- Sacred heart, St. Antony’s church and Zion church.
7. What are the other tangible resources?
There is a Fish Market , secretariat , Chennai Fort , Egmore railway station , Central
Railway station , Marina Beach , Tamil Nadu slum clearance board ,Ezhilagam
 (Center for all government meetings), Madras University, Connemara library, Riche
Street ( hub for electronic goods ) .

CHAPTER–V
 MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

 Ninety eight percent of the respondents have electricity supply at their residence. (Table
1)
 Forty six percent of the respondents have low/high voltage problem at their residence.
(Table 2)
 Ninety two percent of the respondents have access to drinking water facility at their
locality. (Table 3)
 Ninety two percent of the respondents get access to drinking water every day at their
locality. (Table 4)
 Ninety six percent of the respondents have access to water through common hand pumps
installed by the corporation. (Table 5)
 Sixty two percent of the respondents are satisfied with the quality of water available at
the residence. (Table 6)
 Sixty eight percent of the respondents have improper drainage facility at their residence.
(Table 7)
 Ninety eight percent of the respondents do not have toilet facility at their residence.
(Table 8)
 Ninety two percent of the respondents utilize the public toilets available at their locality.
(Table 9)
 Eighty four percent of the respondents do not have bathroom facility at their residence.
(Table 10)
 Seventy percent of the respondents utilize the public restrooms available at their
residence for bathing. (Table 11)
 Eighty two percent of the respondents have witnessed the availability of common garbage
collector at their locality. (Table 12)
 Fifty eight percent of the respondents do not have kitchen at their residence.(Table 13)
 Seventy two percent of the respondents have gas stove at their residence for cooking
purpose. (Table 14)
 Sixty eight percent of the houses are made of brick with asbestos roof at the locality.
(Table 15)
 Fifty two percent of the respondents have witnessed the problem of air pollution at their
locality. (Table 16)
 Eighty six percent of the respondents have access to provisional and vegetable shops near
their locality. (Table 17)
 Ninety eight percent of the respondents are convenient with the public transportation
facility available near the residence. (Table 18)
 Ninety four percent of the respondents make use of the hospitals available near the
locality. (Table 19)
 Sixty four percent of the respondents utilize the government hospital near the locality for
health care purposes. (Table 20)
 All the respondents have access to schools near the locality. (Table 21)
 Sixty six percent of the respondents make use of the government schools available near
their locality for educating their children. (Table 22)
 Sixty two percent of the respondents falls under the income category of Rs 5000 – Rs
7000 per month. (Table 23)
 Ninety percent of the respondents do not have any property. (Table 24)
 Ten percent of the respondents either own a piece of land or house. (Table 25)
 Eighty six percent of the respondents do not have the habit of saving. (Table 26)
 Eight percent of the respondents out of fourteen percent who has the habit of saving uses
bank as the medium. (Table 27)
 Eight percent of the respondents out of fourteen percent who has the habit of saving save
up to 1000rs – 3000rs per month. (Table 28)
 Sixty four percent of the respondents have debts. (Table 29)
 Sixteen percent out of the sixty four percent of respondents who has debt has borrowed
because of marriage expenses. (Table 30)
 Twenty four percent out of the sixty four percent lead money from local money lenders.
(Table 31)
 Forty eight percent of the respondents will clear the dept in a year. (Table 32)
 Sixty two percent of the respondents do not own any vehicle. (Table 33)
 Twenty percent of the respondents own a two wheeler. (Table 34)
 Twelve percent of the respondents spend less then 500rs for the maintance of their
vehicle. (Table 35)
 Thirty six percent of the respondents incur a daily expense of Rs200 - Rs300. (Table 36)
 Forty eight percent of the respondents have the habit of consuming alcohol. (Table 37)
 Twenty eight percent of the respondents consume alcohol almost every day. (Table 38)
 Thirty eight percent of the respondents spend an average of Rs 500 – Rs 1000 per month.
(Table 39)
 Fourteen percent of the respondents get infected by malaria due to the garbage
accumulation. (Table 40)
 Seventy two percent of the resident’s outlets are connected to the drainage system. (Table
41)
 Forty percent of the respondents fall sick frequently or at least once in a month. (Table
42)
 Forty two percent of the respondents stated that public toilet is vandalized. (Table 43)
 Sixty eight percent of the respondents stated that the electrical units are unsafe for the
people in their locality. (Table 44)
 Thirty four percent of the respondents stated that they do not have street lights near their
residence. (Table 45)
 Forty percent of the respondents fall under the age category of 16 – 30 years. (Table 46)
 Eighty four percent of the respondents are females. (Table 47)
 Seventy two percent of the respondents belong to scheduled caste. (Table 48)
 Eighty percent of the respondents are married. (Table 49)
 Forty percent of the respondents are illiterates. (Table 50)
  Seventy percent of the respondents belong to Hinduism. (Table 51)

SUGGESTIONS:

 People in the locality are poor at financial management; hence it is essential to educate
them on various saving schemes, income generation methods and budget planning
techniques.
 Alcoholism has an adverse effect on the livelihood of the people since most of the men
are working as Auto drivers, truck drivers and painters. They spend more than 50% of
their income on alcohol and cigarettes, hence it is necessary to create awareness on the
various rehabilitative techniques and means available for the same.
 About 350 families make use of the one and only public toilet available in the locality. It
is high time that the government should step in to this issue and take necessary steps so
that the sanitation standards may improve.
 It is not only a question of the number of toilets but also the cleanliness of the toilets,
hence janitors have to be appointed for proper maintenance of the toilets.
 The excessive garbage accumulated at the community centre of the slum is yet another
major problem for hassle free living in the community. This is because it is the place
from where major epidemics break out.
 The literacy rate after secondary education is almost nil in that locality, hence it is
important to create awareness on the demerits of dropping out of schools as well as on
the importance of education.
 Not much of street lights are available at the slum, leaving one side of the slum in dark at
night times which possess a threat for the people residing at the dark side of the slum.
  The drainage lane across the slum is poorly installed which leads to blockage of drainage
water frequently. Government has to take necessary measures since it acts as a potential
threat for hygiene and cleanliness in the slum.
 The main electrical circuits in the slum were left unsealed which should be adequately
sealed with the proper equipments to avoid mishaps with the children playing on the
streets.

GROUP PROJECT SUGGESTIONS:

C H A P T E R – VI
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

In this chapter the result found in chapter V will be discussed in greater detail and appropriate
suggestions are also discussed. The implications of future research will be addressed. The
chapter concludes with the recommendations for future research.

The method of research adopted in this study was based on the sustainable livelihood
framework .It is one way of “organizing” the complex issues surrounding urban reality. It needs
to modified adapted made appropriate to the local circumstances and to the local priorities. This
is done by assessing the human capital, social capital, physical and the financial capital attached
to the people living in the locality.

Human Capital is analyzed taking the following aspects into concern.

Health - Rajiv Gandhi government hospital is the primary source of medical assistance for the
people in the community .The Venn diagram results also show that the hospital is the highly
assessed resource by the people .Down the lane the public health care center ranks 8 th according
to the inference taken from the Venn diagram PRA.

Nutrition –The community visits show that there is a day care center within the locality which
provides scumtutious lunch menu.

DAYS MENU
Bulgar wheat uppuma or Khichri/Greens and dhal kootu,
Monday and Wednesday
Payasam, Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, eggs
Tamarind rice/Greens kootu with dhal /BalaharPayasam,
Tuesday
Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, green gram
Dhal rice, Greens and dhal kootu, BalaharPayasam,
Thursday
Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, Bengal Gram
Friday Potato, rice, sambar
Saturday and Sunday Sambar and rice

Education – The Qualitative study reveals that all the respondents have access to schools near
the locality. (Table 21) and Sixty six percent of the respondents make use of the government
schools available near their locality for educating their children. (Table 22)
Knowledge and Skills –As per the inference taken from focused group discussion most of the
respondents have finished their higher secondary education and on an average the respondents
work as electricians, painters and tailors as a part time job .

Jobs – On an average people work as Auto rickshaw /Truck Drivers and women work as
housemaids in the nearby locality as per the inference from the focused group discussion.

Social Capital is analyzed taking the following aspects into concern.

Networks and connections –The Zion Church and the Mari Amman Temple serve as the primary
point for social gathering and the Venn diagram PRA supports the same.

Leadership-The focused group discussion reveals that Mr. Vallaiyan, who is associated with the
ruling party, provides help for the local people and plays the role of decision maker in the
locality

Groups – There isn’t no men and women youth groups in the locality according to the inference
from the focused group discussion.

Physical Capital is analyzed taking the following aspects into concern.

Transport – The survey taken at the locality reveals that Sixty two percent of the respondents do
not own any vehicle. (Table 33) and Twenty percent of the respondents own a two wheeler.
(Table 34) but Ninety eight percent of the respondents are convenient with the public
transportation facility available near the residence. (Table18).

Communication – The focus group discussions reveal that most of the respondents use cell
phones for communication.

Hospitals - There are around 13 hospitals around the locality such as Rajiv Gandhi govt. general
hospital Royappettah government general hospital, Kilpauk government hospital, Govt. Eye
hospital, Government Maternity hospital, Government Children hospital, Santhosh hospital for
heart (Private) , Apollo hospitals (Private ), government TB hospital ,Public health care center ,
TANSACS center for treating AIDS patients and government dental hospital .
Other Resources - There is a Fish Market , secretariat , Chennai Fort , Egmore railway station ,
Central Railway station , Marina Beach , Tamil Nadu slum clearance board ,Ezhilagam

(Center for all government meetings), Madras University, Connemara library, Riche Street (hub
for electronic goods).

Financial Capitalis analyzed taking the following aspects into concern

Savings – The focused group discussion reveals that the respondents do not have the habit of
saving and it could be agreed with the inference from the survey taken which shows eighty six
percent of the respondents do not have the habit of saving. (Table 26)

Debt- The survey reveals that almost Sixty four percent of the respondents have debts. (Table 29)
and Sixteen percent out of the sixty four percent of respondents who has debt has borrowed
because of marriage expenses. (Table 30)

Income and Expenditure- The survey reveals that sixty two percent of the respondents falls under
the income category of Rs 5000 – Rs 7000 per month. (Table 23) and Thirty six percent of the
respondents incur a daily expense of Rs 200 - Rs300. (Table 36)

Loans- According to the inference from the focussed group discussion on an average people get
loans from local money lenders.

Vulnerability:

Human Capital:

People in the community are prone to viral infections such as malaria, dengue, chickungunya and
gastro intestinal diseases; this is primarily because of the garbage dumped in the community
center. It is also found that most of the children drop out of school by class eight due to various
reasons like substance abuse, drag racing and other distractions.

Social Capital:

People are so not in favor of forming self help groups since they want the government to invest
the capital fund required as opposed to investing from everyone’s pocket .also the only social
gathering happens during the mariammamthiruvizha and during Christmas.people seldom meet
in groups and this may be one of the reason for lack of Self help groups due to lack of trust
among the people.

Physical Capital:

Since there is lack of enough place for the children to play or to dwell mostly they find solace
playing in the middle of the main road which leads to fatal accidents. The houses are just about
5ft by 6 ft .Though they get corporation water through hand pumps 24/7 , the quality of water is
very poor .There is only one public toilet for all 350 families which is found vandalized all the
time .There isn’t proper drainage system which makes impossible for the people to dwell during
the rainy seasons due to drainage water seepage across the streets .

Finance Capital:

The people in the slums complain about financial crisis throughout year and find it very difficult
to repay loans mainly because of lack of saving habits and alcoholism.

They do not have patta for land they reside at and are not in favour of the relocation project.
Though they have hard time facing the everyday challenges for survival people still want to stay
in the place and they would like the government to do the necessary changes to ease their
difficulty.

Scope for further research:

The study concentrates on the capitals available and the vulnerability faced by the slum dwellers.
This gives an overall idea of the livelihood challenges faced by the people in the
community .However the research can be extended connecting the social policies , institutions
and processes available for the people, implementing livelihood strategies and assessing the
improvement of the slum livelihood .

Conclusion:

It is evident from the studythat the people in the Chintadripet slum are facing various livelihood
challenges .It was also significant to discover that the people are not interested for re-location
amidst these challenges .The reason behind this low standard of living is the “Used to “mind set
of the people and lack of motivation to improve their standard of living in a better area. It should
also be noted that the government and its planning schemes have failed drastically which has led
to this stagnant state for the past sixty to seventy years .It is important to educate and create
awareness among the people to improve their standard of living and to realize the need for
education to creating better generations. It is also high time for the government to stand up for
these issues and the help the slum dwellers in overcoming the same .
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file=20090522261009800.htm&date=fl2610/&prd=fline&
 http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2610/stories/20090522261009800.htm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4802248.stm
 http://mhupa.gov.in/W_new/Slum_Report_NBO.pdf
 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-04/india/41764342_1_drinking-
water-habitations-contaminated-water
 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-10-03/india/42663808_1_slum-
population-urban-population-literacy-rate
 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-12/india/42007458_1_rajiv-awas-
yojana-slums-mission
 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-28/chennai/42481107_1_tenements-
slum-clearance-board-new-apartments
 http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-14/news/42062413_1_housing-
complex-flats-slums
 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keyword/national-sample-survey-
organisation/featured/2
 http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-30/madurai/42535295_1_slum-
dwellers-tnscb-satellite-township
 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Slum-Free-India-scheme/news/
 Richard Holden., (November 2008). Urban Sanitation Technologies: The Challenges of
Reaching the Urban Poor.
 UN’s global development network. Guidance note on recovery livelihood. Working
definition of livelihood. 1-7
APPENDIX
 Appendix- I

Seminar:

Pre- Seminar Preparatory activities:

Resource person for the Seminar:

Mr. Andrew Sesuraj, former professor of the department of social work of the Loyola College,
Chennai was contacted to be the resource person for the event. He gave his consent to address
the gathering on the various challenges faced in slum livelihood. The trainees followed up with
the resource person so that his presence would be confirmed. The trainees called up the resource
person till the day before the seminar and confirmed his arrival at the college as he had to travel
all long from Mary Anne Charity Trust, Pudukottai where he is presently rendering his services.
This regular follow up activity helped the group to do effective organization of the event. Also it
helped in keeping away eleventh hour stress about the availability of the resource person.

Preparations for the Photo- gallery:

As the trainees were working majorly on the effective financial management as a part of the
community awareness program they felt it will be apt to do every work for the seminar by
themselves from the invites, the banner as well as the arrangements. The trainees felt it will be
apt to do the exhibition in the cheapest means possible so that it will be an experimental
approach to effective financial management. The trainees prepared the banner for the photo-
gallery in chart using newspaper bits. Then the photographs were given for print after taking
quotations from three different photograph studios. Around 150 photographs of normal size and
8 photographs of size 15*10 was printed at the cost of Rs. 1900 and pasted on charts. The
trainees stayed back after college every day and made 12 different charts depicting the various
aspects of slum livelihood and the challenges faced. The day before the seminar the benches
were arranged and the plans for arrangement were discussed. The preparations for the photo-
gallery brought out the creativity in each trainee. It also taught the trainees about group
cooperation and it also paved way for group cohesiveness. It taught the trainees effective
financial management as well as event organization.

Documentary preparation:

The trainees prepared a Documentary as a part of the seminar. A 15minutes documentary was
prepared using Windows Movie Maker. Each photo was edited and the videos of the regular
community visits, interviews and case studies were added. Captions were added for each part
and the introductory and thank you slides were added. Then the trainees added voice to the
documentary. The trainees did not go to studios for voice recording. They did the recording at a
closed and silent environment at home itself. In the course of doing the documentary the trainees
were able to learn a lot of technical knowledge on the same. The trainees learnt about sound and
video editing and quality checking. Though the documentary was not of a high quality, the
trainees were able to create a better video for the first time learning the software.

Preparations for the seminar:

The trainees assembled at the II MSW class room on the day of seminar (26.09.2013), by
morning 07:00pm. The trainees arranged the photographic gallery by hanging bed spreads on
tied ropes using cloth clips. The charts were hung on the bed sheets using bill pins and the ribbon
was placed at the back door entrance for the opening ceremony of the photo gallery. The
classroom was swept and the benches were arranged. The extra benches were arranges as
partitions. The rest were placed outside for the students to sit during the break time. Then the
lecture area was arranged. The table was decorated with table cloth and flower vase. The
program schedule inside a stick file was placed for the resource person.

Two of the trainees went to the department to give invites to the professors by 08:30am. They
gave invites to the professors of the department. The other trainees made arrangements for
snacks for the break as well as the technical preparations for the documentary. However the
trainees faced technical difficulties and the documentary was shown properly only in the next
day. Also there were minor confusions about the other arrangements.

Apart from the photo gallery, there were also charts depicting the problems faced by slum
dwellers and the solutions for the problems.

Seminar on “The Livelihood Challenges in Slums”- 26.09.2013:

The seminar started by 11:00 am. The program commenced with a prayer song by the team-
“There shall be showers of blessings”. Following the song was the reading of a bible verse and
then the welcome address was delivered.

Mr. Andrew Sesuraj completed his Masters in Social Work on Community Development and had
been a professor in the Department of Social Work in Loyola College till May 2013. He is now a
social worker in the Mary Anne Charity Trust, Pudhukottai. He is also the Secretary of the Social
Workers’ Association. He works for Slum development.

Mr. Andrew Sesuraj spoke about the reality in the slums. He first explained the possible reasons
for the creation of slums. There was a fall of agriculture which led to poverty in the rural areas
which in turn made people migrate to certain areas for better economic stability and employment
opportunities. “This migration does not stop” says Mr. Andrews. He said that when one family
gets educated and moves to a better livelihood, two more families replace their absence and it is
an endless process. The reason behind the congested livelihood is that the people stay close to
their working areas and they choose to live in un- intervened or wholly owned lands. During the
pre- independence era, that is about sixty to seventy years from now, the huge lands were owned
by single lords and they were rented for so many people who migrated from the villages. Mr.
Andrew said that the most important reason behind the congested way of life is that “the used to
it” mindset of the people as well as the poor planning of the government. Mr. Andrew said that
the government is equally responsible for the depleted lifestyle of the people.

He also said that the lack of awareness and education among the people is another major problem
in the slums. Though the enrollment rate of the children into the government schools and primary
schools is 100.02 per cent it reduces gradually and by class V many children drop out of school
due to mal- nourishment, lack of income and awareness. By class X almost 50 percent of the
students drop out of schools and only 2/ 10 students finish their higher secondary education. this
lack of education is one of the major crises that has led to the stagnant conditions of slum
livelihood beyond a period of sixty to seventy years.

Mr. Andrews explained why slums are created, the challenges in slum livelihood and the
challenges that led to the creation of slums.

Then he explained why the people are not interested in relocation by giving the example of
whether a student would prefer to study in a college like IIM which has all the facilities at its
best at a low cost or in a normal college for an MBA programme. He said that when the people
are accustomed and comfortable with the life at slums, when they have an opportunity to reap all
the benefits from government staying in slums and wen day to day life is made in just a few
hundreds in slums there would not be any reason for them to favour the relocation project. Also,
when they are relocated they will have to take care of themselves for having moved to a safer
and better lifestyle. This is the mindset that most people talk about.

Mr. Andrews concluded his talk by saying that it is only by education and creation of awareness
among the people about the challenges of slum livelihood and the measures of improving the
standard of living, the situation can be changed. He also said that the change must first come
from the government which lacks planning.

After the seminar the documentary was scheduled to be released. The documentary was released,
however due to technical difficulties it was terminated half way. Then the gathering was
dispersed for a tea break. After the tea break, the photographic gallery was opened by Mr.
Andrew Sesuraj.
The Photo Gallery contained a model of the Slum which is taken as reference for the project. It
also had about seven charts describing different aspects of the project like-
 1. What is a Slum? How is a Slum formed? Slums in India.
2. Sustainable Livelihood Framework
3. Effective Garbage processing
4. Diseases prevalent in Slums due to the unhygienic way of life.
5. Fourteen commandments to keep diseases away.
6. Alcoholism and Substance abuse.
7. Environmental protection

Apart from the charts there were twelve different charts of photographs depicting the Urban
Reality.

1. Slum photographic mapping

2. Vandalized sanitation in the slum
3. The plight of the streets
4. The slum and its surroundings
5. The people in the slum
6. Focused group discussion in the slum
7. The Day care center in the slum
8. The plight of the cooking areas in the slum
9. The unhygienic water resources in the slum
10. Once a Community Centre, Today a Garbage Dump yard
 11. The Drainage Problem in the slum.
12. An overview of the slums in Chintadripet.

Apart from these charts the charts of the PRA techniques were also displayed in the Gallery.

1. Venn Diagram
2. Wealth Ranking

After the photo gallery opening ceremony, the documentary release was once again tried,
however it was a failure. The documentary was played in the next day’s seminar using a
projector.

The Seminar of the day ended after the Vote of thanks. The gallery was kept open for the next
three days for the students to have a look.
 Appendix - II

Community organization

The trainees reached Chintadripet slum by 09:30 am. They started mobilizing the people in the
community. They explained the people about the day’s agenda. The trainees explained about the
women empowerment speech to be conducted and the program for children. The trainees also
arranged the day care centre for the community organization. However, the rooms were locked.
The people stated that they have received instructions from the World Vision India to keep the
doors closed and they also said that prior permission has to be obtained for making use of the
rooms of the day care centre. The resource person also called up and said that she would be late
by an hour

Hence the trainees dropped the plan of doing the street play on Alcoholism first and gathered the
children outside the rooms of the day care centre and started conducting programs for children.
Events like drawing, connecting the dots, balloon busting, ball passing, singing and dancing,
musical chair and listening skill activities were conducted for the children. The children
participated enthusiastically in all the events. The programs were conducted from 10:00 am to
10:45am and were resumed after the speech and street play performances. The resource person
Ms. Kumara Devi arrived at the Chintadripet MRTS railway station by 10:40am and she
addressed the women in the locality from 10:45am to 11:30am.
Ms. Kumara Devi started her career as a teacher after marriage. Her aim of becoming an
empowered women and good writer was curbed by the conservative thoughts of her mother as
well as in laws. Her husband is no good than a normal patriarchy bred male. For about ten years
she was under the cocoon of family life. She broke the shackles and joined the AIR (All India
Radio) for a 15week program for the first time. She was restricted by the social stigma on media.
She overcame every hurdle and established herself as a script writer in Television Serials. She
worked as assistant director and script writer in the serials like “Chitthi” and some of the Tamil
films as well. She joined JJ’Tv and then the Jaya TV since its inception. She is presently the
program director for a new channel yet to be opened. She said she had to cross so many hurdles
as the society as well as family never encourages women growing greater heights.
Ms. Kumara Devi spoke about women empowerment to the women in the community. She
shared her personal experiences. She said that every woman must use her tongue as a tool/
weapon to protect herself. She has written a book “BhoomiVasapadumae”- it is a book that
speaks about the life of transgender people, how they are treated by the society, their feeling and
emotions, their lifestyle and livelihood challenges; and it is a book that creates awareness about
the recognition and respect for the transgender as any other human being. Some women felt that
the men in their family restrict them from working. They asked how to handle such situations.
Ms. Kumara Devi said that they can wait for their permission for some time after explaining
them clearly about the job. If the men doesn’t seem to heed to the decision of working it is better
to go against their control. She gave them various tips to empower themselves. The speech got
over by 11:30 am

The trainees started mobilizing the community and performed a street theatre on Alcoholism.
The street play portrayed the effect of alcoholism in family and children. It also portrayed how
children get misled by drunkard farther and how the son is rehabilitated in a de-addiction center
after the death of the father. The play created awareness on the effects of alcoholism on family
and children.

Then the trainees performed a play on Importance of Education. The play was incorporated from
the puppetry on importance of education. The play intended to create awareness on education so
that the people would realize it is not good to encourage school dropouts.

The programs for children were continued after the street plays from 12:15pm to 12:45pm. After
the programs, the gifts and prizes were distributed for the children by Ms. Kumara Devi and the
resource person was felicitated with a memento.
The community programs got over successfully by 01:00pm after the prize distribution. Ms.
Kumara Devi presented the Book “BhoomiVasapadumae” as a token of appreciation. She said in
a generation where everyone is behind engineering courses, she is really happy to see students
interested in courses on Social Work

.
Though the crowd was not much as expected the response from the people was appreciative. The
children participated enthusiastically in all the events and were happy when everyone got gifts
and chocolates. A boy named Suresh who dropped out of school said he regained interest on
studies after seeing the street play on Importance of Education. The women in the community
were also happy to know about rehabilitation centres for Alcoholism. Overall the Community
programs had a good reach among the people in the community.

The trainees learnt to execute a planned program effectively through some changes may be
incorporated at the final moments. The trainees also learnt to take up responsibilities and also to
accept the differences in the group and encourage everyone to contribute for the project.
 Appendix - III

Physical Condition of the Slum

1. Do you have proper power supply (electricity)

a) Yes
b) No
2. Do you have problems in the power supply such as
a) Fluctuations
b) Frequent power cuts
c) Low/High voltage
d) Others
3. Do you have adequate water supply?- Yes/No
4. What is the frequency of water supply?
a) Everyday
b) Once in two days
c) Once in a week
d) Others
5. What is the source of water supply
a) Common street taps
b) Common hand pumps
c) Tap connections in home
d) Water lorry
6. What is your opinion about the quality of water?
a) Good
b) Satisfactory
c) Average
d) Poor
7. Do you have proper drainage facility? –Yes/No
8. Do you have an attached toilet at your residence?- Yes/No
9. If not, what other options do you have to defecate?
a) Public toilet
b) Open defecation
c) Others
10. Do you have an attached bathroom at your residence ?-Yes/No
11. If not, what other options do you have to bathe/clean?
a) Public restroom
b) Outdoor
c) Others
12. Do you have a common garbage collector in your locality?
a) Yes
 b) No
13. Do you have a kitchen at your residence?
a) Yes
b) No
14. What type of stove do you use for cooking?
a) Induction
b) Gas Stove
c) Kerosene stove
d) Fire stove
15. What type of house do you reside in?
a) Sheet houses
b) Thatched houses
c) Sheet with thatched roof
d) Brick with thatched roof
e) Brick with asbestos
f) Brick with tiles
g) Others
16. How is the environment around your residence?
a) Clean
b) Polluted : Air/Drainage Seepage/Garbage accumulation
17. Is there any provisional /Vegetable shop available at commutable distance in your
locality?
a) Yes
b) No
18. Do you have access to public transportation facilities near your slum?
a) Yes
b) No
19. Do you have hospitals near your locality?
a) Yes
b) No
20. If yes, what type of hospitals you have access to?
a) Government
b) Private
c) Others
21. Do you have schools nearby your locality?
a) Yes
b) No
22. If Yes, What type of schools is available?
a) Government
b) Private
c) Others
 Economic Status:

23. Monthly income of the individual

a) Rs 5000-Rs 7000
b) Rs 7000-Rs 10,000
c) Rs 10,000- Rs 15,000
d) Rs 15,000 and above
24. Do you own any property?
a) Yes
b) No
25. If yes ,Please specify -------------------------------------------
26. Do you have the habit of saving? –Yes/No
27. If yes, what is the mode of saving?
a) Bank
b) Chit funds
c) Post office
d) Others
28. How much do you save on a monthly basis?
a) Rs500-Rs1000
b) Rs1000-Rs3000
c) Rs3000-Rs5000
d) Rs5000 and above
29. Do you have any debts?
a) Yes
b) No
30. If yes, what are the reasons for borrowing money?
a) Marriage
b) Education
c) Addiction
d) Medical expenses
e) Others
31. Source for borrowing money
a) Local money lenders
b) Neighbors
c) Relatives
d) Friends
e) Others
32. How long would it take to pay back your debts?
a) Less than one year
b) One year
c) Two year
d) More than two years
33. Do you own a vehicle to commute?
a) Yes
b) No
34. If Yes, What type of vehicle do you own?
a) Bicycle
b) Two wheeler
c) Three wheeler
d) Four wheeler
e) Heavy vehicle
35. How much do you spend every month for the maintenance of your vehicle?
a) Below Rs 500
b) Rs 500- Rs 1000
c) Rs 1000- Rs 2000
d) Rs 2000 and above
36. What is the daily expenditure of your family?
a) Rs 100- Rs 200
b) Rs 200- Rs300
c) Rs300- Rs 500
d) Rs500 and above

Livelihood Challenges:

37. Do you have the habit of consuming alcohol?

a) Yes
b) No
38. If yes, how often do you consume?
a) Everyday
b) Once in two days
c) Once in a week
d) Once in a month
e) Others
39. How much do you spend for alcohol consumption every month?
a) Rs 500- Rs 1000
b) Rs 1000- Rs 3000
c) Rs 3000- Rs 5000
 d) Rs 5000 and above

40. What type of diseases do you suffer from due to garbage accumulation?
a) Gastro intestinal infections
b) Dengue
c) Malaria
d) Typhoid
e) Others
41. Is your house drain outlets connected to the street drainage system?
a) Yes
b) No
42. How often do you fall sick?
a) Frequently
b) Once in a month
c) Twice in a month
d) Once in 6 months
e) Rarely
43. What is the sanitary status of the public toilet in your locality?
a) Clean
b) Easily accessible
c) Smelly
d) Vandalized
e) Others
44. Are the electrical units in your locality properly sealed for safety reasons?
a) Yes
b) No
45. Are there any street lights in your locality?
a) Yes
b) No
46. What facilities do you think should be included in the locality?
a) Independent water connection
b) Proper drainage system
c) Construction of more Public toilets
d) Ownership of residing land
e) Street lights
f) Roads