India's Slum Population Doubles Since 1980's

The number of urban slum-dwellers rose from 27.9 million in 1981 to 46.2 million in 1991 and 61.8 million in 2001, according to estimates by the Town and Country Planning Organisation.
The number of people living in slums in India, Asia's fourth largest economy and the world's second fastest growing one, has more than doubled in the past two decades, according to official figures. About a quarter of the country's billion-plus population now live in towns and cities.
The number of urban slum-dwellers rose from 27.9 million in 1981 to 46.2 million in 1991 and 61.8 million in 2008, according to estimates by Town and Country Planning Organisation.
The country's financial capital, Mumbai, houses the largest number of urban slums -some 6.5 million people live in them. The city is also home to Asia's largest slum, Dharavi.
New Delhi follows, with 1.8 million people living in squalor, bereft of even the basic necessities of sanitation and clean drinking water.
Kolkata, with 1.49 lakh slum inhabitants, is a close third.
Although the Indian economy has grown at an average of 8.6% in the last four years, analysts say the growth has not touched millions of India's poor.
The government has launched several schemes to provide housing and civic amenities to slum-dwellers in cities, like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Still the similar problems in non-Mission cities are addressed through the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme.
                     But civil rights groups say the government has not done enough. What has happened is the total failure of the government to provide affordable housing to the urban poor. The government has completely ignored this problem.

Source: Hindustan Times article Dated 10/09/2010

Safe Drinking Water

Water is a fundamental human need. Each person on Earth requires at least 20 to 50 liters of clean, safe water a day for drinking, cooking, and simply keeping themselves clean.

Polluted water isn’t just dirty—it’s deadly. Some 1.8 million people die every year of diarrheal diseases like cholera. Tens of millions of others are seriously sickened by a host of water-related ailments—many of which are easily preventable.

The United Nations considers universal access to clean water a basic human right, and an essential step towards improving living standards worldwide. Water-poor communities are typically economically poor as well, their residents trapped in an ongoing cycle of poverty.

                                                    Education suffers when sick children miss school. Economic opportunities are routinely lost to the impacts of rampant illness and the time-consuming processes of acquiring water where it is not readily available. Children and women bear the brunt of these burdens.

Water is obviously essential for hydration and for food production—but sanitation is an equally important, and complementary, use of water. A lack of proper sanitation services not only breeds disease, it can rob people of their basic human dignity.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and various national agencies have drinking water quality standards that specify the acceptable microbial, chemical, and radiological characteristics of safe drinking water.

Excessive amounts of microbes or chemicals derived from human and animal wastes, agricultural runoff, industrial chemicals, and even natural pollutants, make some water unsafe to drink and cause water-related diseases. If water sources are not protected, or are unexpectedly contaminated for any reason, the quality of drinking water suffers.

Contamination can occur at the source of the water both at the surface and in the ground. Once the water is in the distribution system, there are additional opportunities for drinking water to be contaminated. If pipes are not successfully protected from contaminants, the quality of drinking water suffers. Improper storage can also result in unsafe drinking water.


Source: Hindustan Times article Dated : 17/09/2010

ILLEGAL MINING : INDIA SUFFERS COLLATERAL DAMAGE

In the past seven years, more than 30 million tones of iron ore was illegally exported from the state of Karnataka alone. At a conservative price of $ 150 per tonne, these illegal exports would value a staggering Rs 22,500 crore or more. There is immense `collateral damage’ to the country, it has been estimated that over 1.6 lakh hectares of forest land have been diverted for mining. Iron ore mining alone has used up 77 million tones of water in just one year, 2005-06. In 2006 alone, 1.84 billion tones of waste was dumped on the fertile land of our country due to such indiscriminate mining.

The government of India had declared that Vedanta has seriously violated all the major laws like the Environment Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the Forest Rights Act.  It has ordered a further investigation into the allegation that the bauxite currently being sourced by Vedanta from 14 Jharkhand mines comes from at least 11 that do not have a valid environmental clearance.  It is estimated that if the clearance had been given, in this instance, it would have led to the destruction of seven kilometers of forests that await inclusion in the Niyamgiri wildlife sanctuary. This would also have dealt a devastating destruction of livelihood and habitation of the Dongaria Kondh and Kutia Kondh tribal population who inhabit these forests.

Not withstanding the charges of `politicisation’ – one citing that this decision has come on the eve of Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the area to uphold the rights of the tribals, while another citing the fact that if such a permission was granted, then Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta would have outstripped Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance as the richest Indian – this decision once again brings to the fore the crucial issue of the loot of our country’s mineral resources.

The loot of our mineral resources, particularly illegal mining and illegal exports of such resources constitutes the worst case of `crony capitalism’ in India today. Bellary and illegal iron ore exports have been figuring in the news for a long time now. Worse is the fact that such loot of our mineral wealth is not confined to any one mineral or to any one state. There is literally a mine of information in the answers given to parliamentary questions on the widespread loot of the country through illegal mining and illegal exports in a large number of states. This represents a gigantic loot of the resources of our country.

The issue of safeguarding our country’s rich mineral resources is no longer an issue of only preventing the loot of our precious resources or to bring to book the culprits who are making enormously huge profits through illegal means.

Source: Times Of India Newspaper dated 7/09/2010 

STEEP RISE IN KINDERGARTEN FEES BY 120%, PINCHES THE PARENTS MOST

Approximately 120% fees hike have been observed for kindergartens between 2005 to 2010 which on an average went up from Rs. 1500/- per month to over 3500/- per month in a schools with tag of brands in all metros and bigger cities which include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, chandigarh, Pune, Dehradun, Kolkata and Lucknow, according to a country wide survey conducted under ages of ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF).

The fees hike not only for tiny tots have been abnormally higher but the caution money which is taken under the garb of security deposit have gone up from 10,000/- in 2005 to over 25,000/-Rs. In beginning academic session of 2010, adds the finding of survey.

The schools that run kindergartens are all branded and charge such an extra ordinary amount without having a sense of regret or else remorse  for which parents of tiny tots continue to sweat to generate the required amount in the hope of better education for their children. Authorities especially in the state level have yet to take note of this unfortunate growing trend as no regulatory measures seem to be in the offing and the trend will multiply, reveals the survey

The paper also explains that branded pre-schools are still a very metro-centric phenomenon and parents of upper- and upper middle-class families know the importance of sending their children to pre-school.

Most of branded school enrolls around 15,000 to 20,000 children annually, driving this growth are several social factors, like the increasing number of double income nuclear families who desire to enroll their kids in the best of schools and fear losing out on the rat race.

Booming population, rapid urbanisation, working couples, nuclear families and higher disposable incomes have all contributed to the rise of such upmarket play schools. As the family size has reduced in urban India, parents want the best for their children.

The on an average fees of play school of Rs 3,000 per month for two-three hour in addition to a non-refundable admission fee of Rs. 15,000 to Rs 25,000. It also provides day boarding for children of working parents. As this is a service industry, these play school expects a turnover of a little above Rs 6-15 crore every year.

The high fees pinch middle class households. It’s a rude awakening, but most parents are slowly realising that they have to start doling out huge sums of money as soon as their child starts crawling.

SOURCE: Times Of India Newspaper Article , Dated 13/8/2010

Poverty

Poverty in India is a major issue. Rural Indians depend on unpredictable agriculture incomes, while urban Indians rely on jobs that are, at best, scarce.

Since its independence, the issue of poverty within India has remained a prevalent concern. As of 2010, more than 37% of India’s population of 1.35 billion still lives below the poverty line. More than 22% of the entire rural population and 15% of the urban population of India exists in this difficult physical and financial predicament.

According to the estimates, the division of resources, as well as wealth, is uneven in India - this disparity creates different poverty ratios for different states. For instance, states such as Delhi and Punjab have low poverty ratios. On the other hand, almost half the population in states like Bihar and Orissa live below the poverty line.

A number of factors are responsible for poverty in the rural areas of India:

·          Rural populations primarily depend on agriculture, which is highly dependant on rain patterns and the monsoon season.

·          Inadequate rain and improper irrigation facilities can obviously cause low, or in some cases, zero production of crops.

·         The Indian family unit is often large, which can amplify the effects of poverty. Also, the caste system still prevails in India, and this is a major reason for rural poverty - people from the lower casts are often deprived of the most basic facilities and opportunities. The government has planned and implemented poverty eradication programs, but the benefits of these programs are yet to bear fruits.

·         The phenomenal increase in population in the cities . A major portion of this additional population is due to the large scale migration of rural families from villages to cities. This migration is mainly attributed to poor employment opportunities in villages.

Since 1970, the Indian government has implemented a number of programs designed to eradicate poverty, and has had some success with these programs. The government has sought to increase the GDP through different processes, including changes in industrial policies. There is a Public Distribution System, which has been effective to some extent. Other programs include the Integrated Rural Development Program, Jawahar Rozgar Yojana and the Training Rural Youth for Self Employment.

Source: Article in Hindustan Times newspaper on 2/9/2010