A disappearing act for the Invisibles - A CRY perspective

Imagine the situation of over a lakh Tsunami affected children being raised under the open skies.... Do we tell you there are as many in Mumbai today face the cold winds every night? Huddled with their family, amongst the rubble that used to be their home, there situation is no different. Are we listening to them?

To give the city a face lift we have no right to target the voiceless, and ask 91,000 families to leave their homes with barely an hours notice. Forced to migrate & seek a livelihood in the city, to be able to survive, they are today left stranded with no place to go to. Meet the invisibles.

Seldom considered in any development plan back home at their place of origin (in rural India), these are the socially & economically deprived communities - unable to access resources, unheard at planning stage, unsought when implementing livelihood schemes and unseen when distributing economic packages. Bias experienced since generations by them, never been undone.

Slum Demolitions

Seen as impediments to the "development" of the city the manner in which these evictions took place denies the basic right to life, habitat, survival and development for the people. Children being the most vulnerable, their right to a normal childhood is in jeopardy. With no home, no belongings and basic amenities, the parent are unable to go to work, children do not go to school and thus hunger prevails and puts them in a exploitative situation.

What is immediately required is speedy rehabilitation at the same place or close by and compensation for the seizure and loss of family goods and property. Also with schooling affect the children have to be given a chance to take annual exams at a later date. Children especially need to be helped over come the trauma of uncertainty in their lives..

CRY's experiential learning confirms that the issue cannot be tackled by demolitions of such magnitude, it's a symptomatic treatment. There has to be recognition and comprehensive intervention of the primary issue, which of people migrating to urban center's seeking livelihood options.

With little infrastructure and few options that help people use resources in rural India, the landless, the dalits and the marginalised have few income and work options. Problem ridden schemes like Employment Guarantee Schemes, chalked to help them do not function well. Other safety nets like Public Distribution System to provide food have huge loopholes. With little clarity as to who is entitled (below poverty line), to the quality, and availability of food ration the poorest of the poor are left high & dry. Hearsay of better infrastructure, facilities and opportunities existing in urban attracts them to the cities like a moth. Migration is the option for them and it will remain a reality nationally in these conditions.

Migrating to the city, the image of the invisibles portrayed is that they live off services paid by middle class taxpayer's money. This is a misnomer. For eg. water… slum dwellers barely get any hence are forced to buy and it ends up with it costing them almost 6 times more the non slum dwellers. With privatization it will be further costlier. Health services are not free anymore and user fees have become the norm in all municipal hospitals, these in turn have not been augmented, with increasing demand and population pressure. As budgets are allocated for building roads, there is no priority to increase the quality and frequency of the public transport which the majority of the poor depend upon. Considering the conditions, facilities space provided the slums are have the most un-economical property rates in Mumbai today.

Closely analyzing, the fact is the invisibles subsidize the growth for the city. Working mostly in unorganized sectors, without job or social security, under hazardous conditions and at below minimum wages they drive the economy of the city. Just imagine your life without your regular daily help. It will mean for you taking out approximately 10 hours a week to finish your chores and is a city where time is equated to money, the calculation are simple.

The demolitions have to stop and solutions addressing the root causes have to be sought. We have to protect the rights of the extremely vulnerable children in Mumbai. Today!

About CRY:

CRY is a leading Indian non profit organization working for child rights. CRY believes that each child has a right to survival, protection, development and participation in an environment of equal opportunity. CRY's approach to sustainable development is based on the firm belief of community empowerment and citizen action whilst holding the state responsible for ensuring children's rights. CRY's objective is to demonstrate that real, sustainable change is possible through the building of grassroots models and through concerted advocacy for child rights.
Started in 1979, today CRY partners 157 child development projects across India. To celebrate its 25th year CRY has initiated an awareness campaign on the rights of the child. It is represented by a symbol, the pinwheel called the 'Free a Child Chakri'.

For more information please contact:
Madhura Kapdi/Yogita Verma
CRY (Child Relief & You)
Tel:(022) 23096845/6472
Email:cryinfo.mum@crymail.org