Arvinder Singh Lovely

#India – Amendments in slum policy of Delhi, will benefit lakhs of slumdwellers #goodnews

After a long & continued struggle, Delhi Government brought amendments in modified slum policy after getting pressurized from the slum dwellers of Delhi.

Delhi Government has accepted most of the demands of the Sangathan & amended policy has been notified on 25^th ‘February’2013. The benefits of amended slum policy of Delhi will reach to the hundreds of slum clusters & lakhs of slum dwellers of Delhi.

Since last one decade thousands of poor families living in slum clusters of Delhi facing inhuman evictions by the Government agencies. The ongoing eviction was supported by the modified slum policy which was notified on 19.02.2010 by Delhi Government.

This modified policy had a number of conditions under its eligibility criteria for rehabilitation of slum dwellers. Most of the slum dwellers were unable to fulfill those conditions despite of living in slums since last twenty years. This could have resulted in mass evictions of slum dwellers, loss of shelter & livelihood, school drop outs of children, extreme poverty and malnutrition among women & children. As per previous policy/guidelines, around 80-85% slum dwellers were not eligible for rehabilitation. The settlement of slums has direct link with the livelihood of lakhs of construction & domestic workers, transport workers, vendors & contract workers living in slums.

Delhi Shramik Sangathan mobilized thousands of slum dwellers in hundreds of slums in Delhi against the threat of mass eviction due to such anti labor & anti poor policy. The slum dwellers across Delhi sent thousands of letters to CM office as well as office of the Urban Development Minister of Delhi Government and also marched to Parliament to lodge their protest demanding amendments in slum policy of Delhi on 27^th Novenber’2012.

Delhi Shramik Sangathan also submitted memorandum to Union Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, UPA Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, CM of Delhi, Smt. Sheila Dikshit and Minister of Urban Development, Government of Delhi, Sh Arvinder Singh Lovely demanding amendments in slum policy of Delhi.

These actions pressurized Delhi Government to change several conditions for eligibility for rehabilitation. The major amendments include:

The policy announced on 19.02.2010 had not only defined eligibility criteria for slum dwellers but it had also laid down eligibility conditions for slums; the slums which are situated near footpath, safety zone of railway, right of way, community areas were not eligible for rehabilitation; got removed from the policy.
The cut-off date for slum rehabilitation extended from 31^st March’2007 to 4^th June’2009.
As per the modified policy dated 19.02.2010; the slum dwellers had to present documents (Ration cards, Election identity card etc) of four periods that is of 1998, 2002,2007 and on the date of survey. The amendment has removed previous requirements of documents for eligibility condition; the name of the slum dwellers should be in electoral list on or before 04.06.2009 and in the year of survey.
The basis of income of slum dwellers as eligibility criteria for rehabilitation got removed from the policy.
With respect to ownership right; the flat to the eligible slum dweller will be allotted initially on lease hold basis for 15 years and converted to free hold thereafter.
Delhi government has shown intention in the court to withdraw their petition against the order of the honorable High Court of Delhi for rehabilitation of evicted families of New Sanjay Camp, Okhla through petition WP(C) 8904/2009.
This amendment will have impact on a number of cases pending in honorable High Court of Delhi for rehabilitation of slum dwellers.
The benefits of amended guidelines will also apply to those eight slums which were demolished as per previous modified policy dated 19.02.2010.
The procedures of Survey of slums have become more transparent than the earlier one. Now, the slum dwellers will be informed in advance about the survey and each family will be included in survey list whether it’s owner of the Jhuggi or tenant.

The amended policy is still silent on the issues of In-situ rehabilitation and actual cost of the flat under JNNURM.

In total, the amendments in the slum policy will bring relief to the lakhs of slum dwellers of Delhi who were under threat of inhuman eviction & fear of throwing away out of the city. The reality will be known after implementation of these policy guidelines.

RAMENDRA KUMAR

Secretary General

Delhi Shramik Sangathan

M-9868815915

#Mumbai slumdwellers- Living in No Man’s Land (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Mumbai- Medha Patkar and 20 arrested @ Golibar: Demand Justice (kractivist.wordpress.com)
PRESS RELEASE- #Mumbai-Police Act as Agents of Builders Against People (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Join Demostration on 4th March at New Delhi, against brutal Eviction of Bangalore EWS Slum (kractivist.wordpress.com)

Major loopholes in UID system mean unverified documents could slip through net

The UPA government’s prestigious initiative to provide a unique identification number to every Indian resident was meant to be robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities in government and private databases.

It has, however, come to light that the system does not have proper checks and balances.

An undercover investigation conducted by Delhi Aaj Tak has exposed chinks in the UID system (also called the Aadhar scheme), which render it susceptible to manipulation and rigging with the active support of elected representatives.

Arvinder Singh Lovely

To expose the inherent loopholes in the system, Aaj Tak’s undercover reporters approached various MPs, MLAs and councillors to get an endorsement that is crucial to get an ID made.

The reporters went to the offices of MP Mahabal Mishra, MLA Jaikishan, Delhi education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and councillor Surender Prakash Sharma (all of the Congress), among many others, who gave endorsements without verification.

Investigations revealed that Jaikishan’s staff endorsed unchecked address forms and Mishra made available recommendations on his letterhead for UID cards – all for a small fee.

Armed with recommendations or endorsed proofs from them, the undercover reporters were able to procure three UID cards at UID centres in the National Capital, no questions asked.
The undercover reporters first approached Mishra’s staff who have been randomly signing away recommendations on the MP’s letterhead.

The only prerequisite was a photograph. When reached for his comments, Mishra said he was not responsible for verifying the antecedents of people.

The scene was similar at Jaikishan’s house. What was more shocking was that the MLA’s letterhead with a format for endorsement

MP Mahabal Mishra

printed over it could be bought for Rs 2 at the nearby sweet shop.

It didn’t matter if the MLA was present or not. One of his associates signed the form. At the UID centre in Sultanpuri, this form with a fake address was accepted as a valid ID proof.

Ironically, the undercover reporters managed to get similar ID proofs on letterheads of Lovely and Sharma as well.

The only exception was Burari MLA Krishna Tyagi’s office, where his staff asked a few inquisitive questions.

If these elected representatives were careless, the story at other UID centres in Delhi was even scarier.

Outside one such facility, a man who claimed to be a doctor was giving away certificates for just Rs 50 rupees.