URBAN POOR

On the narrow and traffic-free roads of Kannagi Nagar, five-year-old Kumar (name changed) plays cricket with a group of boys. Most of them are older to him. As they disperse and leave for their respective homes at lunchtime, Kumar stays back, all alone. Sitting on a small bench by the side of the road, the frail boy waits for new company to play with. When asked if he is not going home for lunch, he shrugs, “Pasi ille (I am not hungry).”  The truth, however, is different -- there is no good food at home. Kumar has been skipping lunch…

“Ab to dus rupaye wala customer bhi chalega, kam se kam chai aur pav to khane ko milenge is lockdown mein (Now, even a customer who can pay ten rupees will do. It can get me some chai and bread at least during this lockdown),” says Beauty Biswas, a sex worker at Kamathipura, Mumbai’s notorious red light district, located virtually at the centre of the city.  The coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the sustenance of these women in Kamathipura. The area is home to about 4500 -5000 sex workers, who have been rendered jobless and penniless since the lockdown was clamped.…

Even when the howling wind and torrential rain brought by Cyclone Amphan was causing havoc around her on May 20, Sabita Sardar was not afraid. “We are used to dealing with bad weather. I wasn’t feeling scared. In fact, those who live in concrete homes were more scared,” she said. For 40 years now, Sabita has been living on the streets of Gariahat, a popular market area in south Kolkata. That day, when the super cyclonic storm passed through West Bengal’s capital city, Sabita and a few other homeless women sat huddled together in her tricycle cart under the Gariahat…

Ehsaan Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Rajiv Nagar  -- three slums in and around Bhopal that are home to 288 families of the Bel-Pardhi, one of the 198 'denotified' tribes in India. Gandhinagar and Ehsaan Nagar came up in 2002 on the outskirts of Bhopal, whereas Rajivnagar is located well within the city limits. In the wake of the COVID-19 triggered lockdown, availability and access to food among these tribal families across these three slums, who lead a hand-to-mouth existence even during normal times, has emerged as an issue of great concern. Out of these 288 households, 50-60% have ration cards,…

“PSU banks do not provide any kind of credit facilities for people who own lands in the urban villages, they say we belong to the Lal Dora. When we go to the MCD, they say we don’t belong to the Lal Dora and are an urbanised village now,” rues Deepak Tyagi, a 39-year-old resident and RWA president of Budhela village in New Delhi. This intriguing in-between nature of urban villages is what led us to study these areas and the digitalization of land records here. Lal Dora is a red thread that was drawn around the habitation or abadi areas…

“Hello Teacher,  kis ka accha hain? Mera ya uska?” “Mera, Mera” (Hello Teacher. Whose toy is better - hers or mine?” “Mine, Mine”) Two paper frogs, one green and one white, talking to one another animatedly. The voices in the background belong to children. A joyful WhatsApp forward on a Sunday morning led us to pursue this heartwarming story of children in the bastis crafting puppets to beat the stress brought on by COVID-19. The lockdown has placed enormous economic burden on the urban poor. There is a palpable gloom produced by a normal way of life coming to a…

“Hello Teacher,  kis ka accha hain? Mera ya uska?” “Mera, Mera” (Hello Teacher. Whose toy is better - hers or mine?” “Mine, Mine”) Two paper frogs, one green and one white, talking to one another animatedly. The voices in the background belong to children. A joyful WhatsApp forward on a Sunday morning led us to pursue this heartwarming story of children in the bastis crafting puppets to beat the stress brought on by COVID-19. The lockdown has placed enormous economic burden on the urban poor. There is a palpable gloom produced by a normal way of life coming to a…

Pisavali is a densely populated, low income neighbourhood. Most residents of the low income settlement are working in the informal sector. Many of the temporary residents in the basti are migrants from states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal without a permanent home in the city. After the sudden declaration of a nationwide lockdown starting on the 24th of March, only a few of the migrants were able to go back to their native villages. The majority however was stranded in Pisavali.  Map of Pisavali. Source: Google Earth Life became difficult given the precarious nature of employment for residents…

Pisavali is a densely populated, low income neighbourhood. Most residents of the low income settlement are working in the informal sector. Many of the temporary residents in the basti are migrants from states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal without a permanent home in the city. After the sudden declaration of a nationwide lockdown starting on the 24th of March, only a few of the migrants were able to go back to their native villages. The majority however was stranded in Pisavali.  Map of Pisavali. Source: Google Earth Life became difficult given the precarious nature of employment for residents…

The rotis lay strewn about on the railway track near Aurangabad - a tragic testimony to the plight of the poor in our country. Having packed their meagre belongings, with a bundle of food to be shared among the many, they only wanted to go home. Yet 16 people ended up being run over by a train as they fell asleep, exhausted, on the railway track near Aurangabad. The price for a ticket home cost them more than they bargained for.  The issue of migrants wanting to return their homes has been as big a problem as the pandemic of…