This blog is written by Kirti Sharma, a Second-year law student of Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwvidal

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced digital world cities are growing at an unprecedented rate yet millions are forced to live in places that are “Rat-infested areas.” There is a quote that says “Slums may well be breeding grounds of crime, but middle-class suburbs are incubators of apathy and delirium.” By taking forward the idea of the quote we will discuss the life of slums and their effects on our society through the medium of the blog.

This blog revolves around a central idea which is slums, So the questions that arise here are why we are going to discuss them, why is it important to discuss them, and what the need for it is. Through this blog, we’ll discuss the background, factors that lead to their existence, the making of slums, the checks and balances of the jurisdiction that governs it, and also the jurisdiction in different states of the world. What new ideas should be taken from them to implement in our country to make a better living environment? Difficulties faced by the people, how they are being treated in our society. What kind of image which slums show of their country?

Background

The slums came into existence when the idea of urbanization came into force. Lack of resources in the rural areas forced people to come out of their comfort zone and find a place where their needs could be taken care of and who are often driven by poverty, and unemployment. These urban places can accommodate to a certain extent of people and these poverty-stricken people end up in places that are not generally very costly and provide shelter to them. Talking about slums from the time of colonial rule Industrial Revolution took place which divided the country into parts one elite and other people like artisans, and craftsmen who were paid good amounts before the arrival of the Britishers and ended up in very difficult situations because of a lack of the work which forced them to move to urban cities int the search of work. The urban policies were only for the elite whereas for migrants there was a lack of infrastructure and house planning schemes, a lack of basic amenities and services like water, and food. During the early twenties and late twenties 20th century, there was an expansion of cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi which were also not well structured leading to the making of slums. Taking about the current scenario these slums are generally very far from the main areas and the places are surrounded by dirty rivers and pipes carrying waste material pouring the same into ponds. The slums are inhabited by migrants from different rural areas but also by refugees who come from other countries leading them to jobs that generally require hard work with low pay scale.

Factors Following are the factors that leads to the making of slums:

Economic Factor Rural areas often lack opportunities when it comes to jobs and sometimes people cannot even manage to provide the basic needs of their family.

Lack of resources The rural areas lack when it comes to basic resources like hospital facilities. Education, medicine.

Jurisdiction

Slums are governed by three bodies of the country which are characterized as local government (municipal corporation ), State government, and National government. Their main aim is to make policies that fulfil the basic needs of the people to ensure equality to people provided under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution's Right to Shelter which also includes the right to adequate housing and basic amenities. A state like Maharashtra has a specific legislation act which is the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance, and Redevelopment) Act, 1971 which defines slums and separates them from areas that don’t require development.

Why are refugees becoming a part of slums? The refugee was again divided into two groups first group and second group. The first refugee group consists of those who migrate from one country from one country to another in search of jobs without a proper migration process. The second group of refugees are those who are forced to migrate either due to war or because of partition but in both groups, there is one thing in common which is no citizenship of India which prevents them even a small benefit usually people inhabited in those areas get. Which prevents them from doing jobs that they could do if they would be in their own country. They end up getting jobs that serve them only a little penny. Sometimes in the greed of it, they start doing illegal work.

Effects of slum areas on society

study of a village in Delhi

So, we are going to discuss the effects of slums through the case study of a village in Delhi which is Vikaspuri. So, we see a very bad image of society as we see they are generally exploited in one or the other way. Hygiene and health conditions in such areas are given less priority resulting in a chain of affected people that passes to the different groups of the society. Generally, the lives of the people of slums are so exposed to society that they can't even enjoy the right to privacy mentioned in the Constitution of India resulting in setting up a wrong image among the young generation. The lack of education facilities in these areas gives the idea that the people of such areas are limited to pay jobs resulting in access to very limited resources which sometimes creates a situation of stealing from the privileged group again setting up a wrong example in society. Some living entities in slums don't have citizenship leading them to live illegally.

Conclusion

Slums are always treated as the part which is not of society. Several policies have been made regarding this but no changes have been seen in recent years. Policies like ISSR, the slum area act 1956, Housing for All, and the National Slum Upgrading Policy were implemented in various areas also various programs have been introduced but again irresponsible behaviour of the people involved in such matters led to the Detroit conditions of the slums. Now the question arises here who is to be blamed again this blaming game will continue till the end. No one wants to take the responsibility of the other. This inequality will come to an end only when people know what are their rights and what wrong has been done to them. Know the value of voice. Various amendments have been made regarding the Citizenship Act but again this will take time. The situation in India is more like a situation of a bucket in which water is increasing but the amount that bucket holds remains the same. In the same context, the population is increasing but land is the same.

References

1. Urban slums Delhi report https://in.docworkspace.com/d/sIIDX_raHAdP6u7cG?sa=cl

2 International journal of current research ISSN: 0975-833X

3.https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?q=related:ypvfGs3RN8QJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5#d=gs_qabs&t=1726578936463&u=%23p%3DC1ZZpOpojtoJ

4.kuffer_2019 Do we underestimate the global slum https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=slum+population&oq=%22slum%22+#d=gs_qabs&t=1726579069148&u=%23p%3DiTfgGke7YVI

5 Slums improvement in India: determinants and approaches https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2017.129191