URBAN POOR

Waste picker communities in Shraddhanand Colony share a toxic relationship with the Bhalswa landfill and lack basic services like access to clean water.

The municipal corporations in Ahmedabad had reportedly launched a drive to remove street vendors selling non-vegetarian dishes in roadside stalls.

For women in informal settlements in our cities, homes are most often workspaces too. Access to services at home determines their working conditions.

Privatisation of basic necessities, which should essentially be provided by the state, must be reversed to reduce the economic woes of the urban working class.

Even skilled migrant workers are finding it difficult to get work, and thus taking up semi-skilled, unskilled jobs or short term gigs.

For most middle and low income urban families, the only way to cope with the rising inflation has been to slash expenditure on food.

We spoke to two eminent economists on issues concerning creation of urban employment guarantee schemes; both stressed on decentralisation and involvement of local governments.

In the first of a three part series, we explore the need for a work guarantee scheme to mitigate the crippling effects of the pandemic on the urban poor.

Life near garbage dumpyards in our cities is fraught with many risks. Yet, little attention is paid to the issue of scientific solid waste management and elimination of landfills.

Lockdown and absence of midday meals has hit child nutrition badly. Even worse-off are the very poor and street children, who are struggling to secure a meal a day.

The lockdown pushed many members of the Pardhi community in Bhopal to beg for survival. Now, as they try to rebuild their lives post lockdown, there is still little hope.

The Directorate of Education said the delay in cash transfers was due to the preoccupation with COVID. Meanwhile poor families struggle to provide the bare minimum nutrition for their children.