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Mainstream, VOL XLIX, No 34, August 13, 2011 - INDEPENDENCE DAY SPECIAL
Rethink Slum Housing Scheme
Saturday 20 August 2011, by
#socialtagsCOMMUNICATION
According to the details of the first phase of the scheme for allotting flats to Delhi’s slum dwellers, only 42 per cent of the 15,713 slum households were found to be eligible. What happens to the remaining 58 per cent who will lose their slum dwellings? There is a plan to provide them temporary rental accommodation for six months only after which they have to be on their own.
Any scheme for the poor has to be based on the basic principle that the overwhelming majority will at least be better placed than before, and none will be left entirely helpless. However as per the government’s own data, 58 per cent face the prospects of becoming homeless.
The government should hold closer consul-tations to avoid a situation in which after spending a lot of money in the name of the poor, the plight of the majority of the affected poor people worsens.
Bharat Dogra
C-27 Raksha Kunj, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110063 Tel: 25255303