Times of India: Poor advised against buying property in slums

MUMBAI: The realty market in Mumbai's slums might be growing but it does not necessarily leave the city's poor and marginalized better off. Activists and advocates say buying slum tenements is a risky proposition because of a host of reasons.

"A slumdweller who has documents to prove that he has been living on the premises since 1995 is entitled for protection under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority scheme. He can get a flat when the slum is redeveloped. But if he sells the flat to someone else, the sale has no legal validity and the new occupant is not entitled to resettlement," says Shakil Ahmad, a lawyer and human rights activist who grew up in the slums of Mumbai and continues to live there.

Even when it comes to procuring the necessary documents for resettlement, the authorities play a cruel game with slumdwellers. A month ago, the civic body razed rows of hutments along the Dharavi pipeline even though the move went against a state ruling that prohibits slum demolitions during the monsoon. Many of those rendered homeless were found ineligible for resettlement since they did not have the required documents. And yet all of them had voted in the last election.

Photos from Sabda

These are photo's from the Sabda community where ACORN India organizes.

Thursday, 09 June 2011 15:33

Report from Delhi

Report from Delhi (January to April 2011)

Membership of ACORN- 83 new members enrolled (mostly rickshaw pullers and ragpickers)

Homeless Shelter- ACORN with its local partner is managing a Govt. sponsored temporary shelter for homeless. On an average, more than 50 homeless (mostly rickshaw pullers) are using the shelter to escape from extreme weather. All users have become member of ACORN. Membership card of ACORN has been issued to all of them.

Dues Collection-A total of INR 3600/- has been collected from members as dues.

Other financial support-Delhi Govt. support of INR. 6000/- per month going to the ACORN organizer as part of salary from December 2010 till now.

Campaign-ACORN joined other organizations to ensure counting of homeless in the national census of 2011 (census is carried out after each decade since 1871 to help formulate states policy and programmes. ACORN worked closely with census authorities and consequently authorities visited its night shelter and camped for the whole night to enroll all users of the shelter.

FDI Watch Forum-successfully lobbied with political forces and met many important national politicians and policy makers to thwart American and European Govt. and corporates' attempts to liberalise retail trade in India. It organised a meeting with European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and took them to street markets to help them understand ground realities of India. It paid back and the EESC endorsed our concerns and demanded European Parliament and European Commission to commission studies on likely impact on informal workers particularly street vendors.

thanks

Dharmendra Kumar

Delhi, India