Urban Poor – Citizen Matters

Death in a Delhi sewer…and lives of those left behind

February 22, 2019 Bhasha Singh / PARI

After Anil’s death while cleaning a sewer in Delhi, Rani has been struggling to make ends meet, while battling grief and barbs about not being his legally married wife. “On how many fronts can I fight?” she asks, and hopes the state will now bring in machines for cleaning drains.

For almost 15 million migrant children, education remains a luxury

January 17, 2019 Navya P K

In a land of 453 million internal migrants, a majority among whom seek work in cities, children’s education is the greatest casualty. Government schemes notwithstanding, most migrant children never end up joining school in host cities or eventually drop out.

Living in rooms by looms: Fate of migrant workers in Surat

December 21, 2018 Reetika Revathy Subramanian / PARI

Around 8 lakh workers from Odisha, after strenuous shifts in Surat’s powerlooms, stay in rotation in crowded rooms, amid power cuts, scarce water, filth and noise. Illnesses are common, as are stress and alcoholism.

When the urban poor rallied for the rural poor

December 5, 2018 Subuhi Jiwani/PARI

Watch this video to hear people in a Delhi basti, speaking out in support of the farmers who marched to the capital on November 29-30th.

Taking healthcare to Delhi’s red light district

October 5, 2018 Anjali Mehta

An ophthalmologist surgeon recounts her personal experience and the insights that she gained into the lives and needs of sex workers and the larger community on GB Road in the national capital, where she organised an eye care camp.

What do smart cities mean for the 99%? Nothing!

September 11, 2018 Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya

What do the commonest among the common men in our country really want? And what kind of space and acceptance do they find in the cities to which they migrate? A chance conversation with a young director of a National Award-winning film, who has filmed such people extensively, reveals stark urban realities that we often overlook.

Books in their hand, dreams in their head: Community library project changes kids

August 17, 2018 Kasturika Ramamoorthy

In New Delhi and Gurgaon, The Community Library Project is taking reading to all sections of society with the involvement of the local community. Providing more than just books, the library is a lively space and engages its members through workshops and events.

Whose cities are these and how smart will they be?

July 4, 2018 Himanshu Upadhyaya

A new report from policy think tank, Housing and Land Rights Network, has strongly criticised the Smart Cities Mission for neglecting the rights and concerns of the poor and marginalised. A look at what the report recommends for truly inclusive cities.

Where goes the slum dweller evicted in Indian cities?

May 30, 2018 Navya P K

Slums are increasingly being evacuated in Indian cities, often violently, to make way for city ‘beautification’, smart cities and even book fairs. But no one tracks where the evicted poor go.

1.2 lakh people evicted to make our cities beautiful, slum-free and smart: HLRN

February 24, 2018 News Desk

HLRN report lays out details of forced eviction in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and other Tier I cities in 2017; finds beautification, ‘slum-clearance’ and smart city projects to be the top cause, followed by infrastructure projects.

Rain, chill or heatwave, homeless poor have few places to turn to

December 13, 2017 Navya P K

Even though the National Urban Livelihoods Mission prescribes permanent, 24X7 shelters for the urban homeless, most of our cities can accommodate less than six percent of such population in the official shelter homes.

Subsidised canteens gain ground in Indian cities

August 29, 2017 Navya P K

Across India, a number of state as well as non-governmental initiatives are providing low-cost or free meals to the unemployed, the daily wage earner, migrant labour and other sections of the urban poor. How do these function and do they really help the cause?