URBAN POOR

The first part of the series LOANS FOR URBAN POOR IN BENGALURU explained how the urban poor living in the slums of Bengaluru get trapped in the circle of borrowing, paying interest and re-borrowing. In this part, the author explores the reason behind the same—why banks do not help the poor—how complicated the process is. Sunil, a slum dweller in Swatantrapalya, wants to buy an auto. He needs a loan badly. Not keen on lending money from local moneylenders for extra interest, he wants to secure a bank loan. However, he doesn’t have any collateral security to offer to the…

Alamelu works in one of the flats in a nearby apartment complex. After returning to her home in Swatantrapalya, she prepares incense sticks. Pics: Shree D N Sitting on the floor in her two-room house in Ragigudda EWS quarters, Rajeshwari N, a domestic worker and mother of two, says that she hopes to leave the locality within next two-three years. She has borrowed over Rs 2 lakh to pay the Slum Board for house allotment and to pay off her relatives who wanted to stake claim to the house. Rajeshwari has been living in the area–which was Ragigudda slum earlier–for…

“I won’t vote this time. What’s the point?”, asks a flustered Siddalakshmi, 55-year-old Bengaluru's slum-dweller in Koramangala’s Rajendranagar, referring to the now over-due BBMP council elections. Siddalakshmi’s anguish is shared by her neighbours, as she urges them not to vote as well. “Even if we are not voting, we should all decide to not vote. Not just one or two people”, quips Sujatha S, 33, another resident of the area. 55-year-old Siddalakshmi. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal. Siddalakshmi, Sujatha and the others explain the various problems in their area, which remain unheard till today. “The toilet chamber overflows and everything comes into…

CIVIC, an NGO working for participative democracy, in conjunction with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), conducted a pilot study on slum and urban homelessness in Bengaluru and an event was organized at Institute of Agricultural Technologists, Queens Cross Road on 28th February, 2009 to release the report and highlight some of the findings. BBMP had commissioned the study to understand the effectiveness of the services they provide to urban poor in the city. The study itself was conducted over two months in 19 habitations, through Focus Group Discussions and the use of secondary data. Some of the findings highlighted at…