Colorless “Rangpuri Pahadi”

Rangpuri Pahaadi is a slum area near Ryan International School,Chatarpur in New Delhi, here people live in congested small houses with an improper drainage system and unhygienic conditions.

One side of the road has no water supply and on the other side there is water supply but only for 10 minutes in a day.

These people have innumerable complaints about their living conditions but there is no one to listen to their woes.
According to them politicians come to ask for their votes and make false promises but they are never fulfilled.

Inter-Caste

Caste differences in this area is very prevalent as some people consider the “others” as untouchables and inhuman, the situation is extreme as they don’t even share the only tube well they have in their area and prefer to get their own water tanks even if it means sacrificing other basic necessities of education their children and electricity.

Health Hazards

They have stagnant water at different places which is resulting in the spread of chronic diseases.
Though there is doctor stationed near their dwelling ground but he is not well qualified and is absent from the ill equipped clinic most of the times.

Education
Most of the children don’t go to school due to limited income of their family.
They have a small government school nearby which only teaches up to the 5th grade.

Money is a big hurdle in their way so many drop out of school mid-way and help their parents either at household chores or generate income by working as laborers or domestic helps at other home’s.

An Outsider's View

John Mckinzey a volunteer at Salaam Baalak Trust,is from Australia and has been in India for the past 2 months.

His motive to come to India was to get an insight to the plight of the children who run away from their homes and help them in every way he could.


In his view there are 2 primary reasons for kids to run away in the west which are FREEDOM AND DRUGS. He found that the situation in India was very similar too as children here too craved for freedom from poverty, abuse and despair.


He also said that children in the west were more aware of their rights and could not be forced to live in shelter homes like that of Salaam Baalak as the shelter home here is locked all the time and the children are not allowed to move around on the streets at their own will.

“It is more self indulging for westerners to come to India and volunteer rather than other things.”John Mckinzey

He told us about the huge industry in the western countries which connect the interested volunteers to various NGO’s based in India and how the volunteers come to India for a few weeks just for the satisfaction they get. Though these volunteers often are not able to contribute much due to lack of knowledge on what has to be done.

For volunteers of Salaam Baalak and the children“the little everyday achievements are their victories- every time a child laughs, completes a new task, learns a new word, is full from lunch, wakes up from an undisturbed sleep”…-John Mckinzey

Salaam Baalak Trust: Love and Care

Salaam Baalak Trust an NGO was founded in 1988.It has 3 centers across Delhi and 1 in Gurgaon. It has several contact points spread all over New Delhi.

They are working for fulfillment of the dreams of street children who have chosen slums and streets over life with their family.

The SALAAM BAALAK TRUST’S primary purpose is “to reunite these kids with their family”.


Nick from London, working since Jan 2009. Fund raiser for Salaam Baalak Trust. “I am happy to work here. I feel satisfied , I am doing something good for society”.

Salaam Baalak Trust with the help of Child Welfare Committee search for children (under 14 age) living on the streets and the railway tracks. These children then are convinced to stay at their shelter homes or come to one of their 7 contact points on everyday basis.

At the shelter homes the children are provided with basic amenities of food, shelter and clothing. They are also educated, and are provided with vocational training with the help of Shramik Vidyapeeth and Gurukul to make them self dependent.

After completing school each child gets 50% financial aid to pursue higher studies. Students are also provided with part time jobs so that they can earn for themselves.

There is a impressive list of companies which give employment to SBT children which include brands such as Café Coffee Day, Pizza Hut, Park Hotels, Matrix Clothing and Interface.

Salaam Baalak Trust also gets aid from United States agency for International Development.


(in order of left to right)

Fayaaj, 13 years, studying in vth came from Bethiya, Bihar. “I am happy here, I got lots of friend like me”.

Indar, 13 years from Faridabad Haryana, “I was alone, could not study and brothers from Salaam Baalak Trust brought me here”.

Anmol, 14 years, studying in IXth standard. He has completed his basics in computer and wants to pursue Hardware learning. He joined SBT seven months ago when he lost his parents in a road accident. He is learning English and can also converse in Spanish.

The trust also has various aid programs and has an annual event and city walks around the New Delhi Railway station which attracts a lot of western and Indian travelers. But Some have even taken objection to this. As per the information available, social activists are up against these slum tours and say it is voyeurism at its worst.

Javed Abidi, a disabled rights activist, says, "The children or the slum dwellers no way benefit from this. Celebrities and foreign dignitaries make it a point to visit slums, street children and girls' homes.”

The Salaam Baalak Trust takes this criticism as a byproduct of their work and ultimately aims to become the voice of growing confidence, the mind of quieter turmoil, the vision of hope who walk their life alone and vulnerable.

Brijesh is a live example of their achievement.






Brijesh is working with Salaam Baalak Trust and has been brought up in this trust.
Before he was found by the trust he lived on the New Delhi railway tracks for 5 years. He ran away from his native home Bihar when he was 8 years old and was in the 2nd standard.
Though his school wasn’t English medium he is well versed with languages like Hindi, English, Bhojpuri and French.

Delhi Fact file

Population: 13.78 million

• Urban Population: 93.01%


• Literacy Rate: 81.82%


• Male Literacy: 87.37%


• Female Literacy: 75.00%

. Sex Ratio: 821 (females per 1000 males)

Migration in search of work

Life in rural villages in India can be hard, with limited opportunities for employment. Over the last 60 years, millions of people have travelled into Delhi from outlying areas in search of work and a better life. The cost of living in the city is far higher than in rural areas, resulting in difficulties even for those who do find employment. The set up makeshift shelters with whatever materials are to hand, and form settlements on waste ground or on pavements.

Rapid population growth

In 1947, there were 2 million people living in Delhi. There are now over six times as many inhabitants, with rapid and chaotic urbanization placing an enormous strain on the infrastructure of the city. The government of India is struggling to cope with the needs of a population of this size and the social problems that can accompany it. Meanwhile, population growth all over India means that people in rural areas find it even harder to earn a living from the land and so travelling to large cities in search of work remains an option.

Insecure settlements on unwanted land.

The slum settlements take root in a variety of places. They can form next to railway lines, under bridges, on swampy ground or next to 5-star hotels, but they all have one thing in common; the people who settle there never own the land. The slum dwellers live in constant fear of eviction from their site as the authorities can decide to reclaim the land at any time, giving little notice.Courtesy- Asha India- A Delhi Based NGO


A Demolition site near, Sarojni Nagar in New Delhi

To encounter this problem of increasing slums Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission was launched in 2007 with the aim of building 15,000 flats in a span of 6 months as a short term goal, and 4 lakh flats as a long term goal.

Union Science Minister Kapil Sibal in February 2009 said for the 1st time that slum dwellers would be allocated flats with all necessary facilities at the same place where they are living.
The vision is to have a slum free Delhi by 2012.
Currently, there are over three million people estimated to be living in 1,500 slums in the city.

I'm on Flickr!

I have observed few of my friends, on flickr and heard them praising it many times. My curiosity took a back seat all these days. I was lazy to do one of the most easiest things in the world. May be, i was waiting for today.

For those who still don’t know flickr(there are many ppl in the category), let me share the definition from Wikipedia.



"Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community platform. In addition to being a popular Web site for users to share personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers as a photo repository".

Those who want to know more about flickr, especially new-bies, Read the article @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr.

Why am i on flickr? because, its time and i don’t want to be too late !
Note: The Pic was picked up from web! (by searching flickr logo in Google images)

lane of Neb Sarai

interview exercise

Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) is the largest open university in India.It offers various types of distance education programmes.Just 4 months ago they have started another programme for corporate education,training and consultancy.Professor PRR Nair is the coordinator of Centre for Corporate Education,Training and Consultancy.To know more about this programme just listen to the interview.

Delhi demolishes slums, leaves poor nowhere

Katori Devi moved to New Delhi from Bihar hoping to make a better life for herself and her family. She, her husband, five children and other relatives erected a hut to live in --- a home that provided shelter and a base for her husband's street side blacksmith business.

The problem was that the land they built on belongs to the government. And the government has decided to take it back.
In a matter of minutes bulldozers level the place, leaving whole family perched on a bed atop a sea of rubble. They have nowhere to go.



"They did it so fast that there was no time to take out anything. And the bulldozer broke everything on the way," Devi said.
"It's like we were picked up and thrown away," she said.

Bulldozers razed the makeshift home and hundreds of others as the Indian government moved to improve New Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Officials said the land is for a road and the demolitions are simply part of a master plan to clean up the city and move slum-dwellers to proper housing.
But, the government said, there will be no relocation for families like Katori Devi's because they do not meet relocation requirements.
The government said they are squatting too close to the road, and are located in a major development zone.



"You see they have encroached on the specific project lengths -- there will be no notice, no relocation projects for them," said New Delhi Mayor
About 3 million people live in New Delhi's slums, the government estimates. Mayor says New Delhi is slated to build 100,000 new apartments, though only 6,800 are under construction.

Critics say demolishing housing that has been here for years and relocating some residents but not others will hurt many who live on the margins of society.
"They'll be pushed to the brink," said a NGO personnel.
"Eventually I think what the planners are doing, they are not realizing they'll be building up a pool of violence."

The people who live in New Delhi's slums are some of the city's maids, drivers, street vendors and day laborers. Experts argues the city could not survive without the services that the slum dwellers provide.
The slums may not have looked like much to outsiders, but to families who had lived there for years, they were everything. Their businesses, homes and temples were there. Now they are lost.
Some huts are still standing, for now. Among them is the home of Kasturi Devi, built more than 20 years ago by the family who still lives there.
But that is little comfort for Kasturi as she sees what has happened to the homes a few yards from her house.
"I came to the road yesterday after being scared seeing the bulldozer," Kasturi says. "You must have seen the front part has been broken."

It has been two days since the latest slum eradication, but families are still eking out a living amid the ruins. A mother cooks for her children, a 90-year-old woman with a walker sits on her bed and some one's pet goat is tied up at a shrine, waiting for its owner.
Katori Devi looks around as night falls. She will spend another night in the open with nothing to keep her warm but a small fire.
"We are going to sleep right here. There is no place other than this."

Delhi Slums - Past

Today, the population of Delhi is over 14 million. More than 4 million of these people live in slum colonies that are chronically overcrowded and lack even the most basic amenities. Although India is experiencing significant economic growth and increased prosperity, the benefit of this does not trickle down to the level of the slum dwellers and so the gap between the rich and the poor is growing ever wider.

Migration in search of work
Life in rural villages in India can be hard, with limited opportunities for employment. Over the last 60 years, millions of people have travelled into Delhi from outlying areas in search of work and a better life. The cost of living in the city is far higher than in rural areas, resulting in difficulties even for those who do find employment. They set up makeshift shelters with whatever materials are to hand, and form settlements on waste ground or on pavements.

Rapid population growth
In 1947, there were 2 million people living in Delhi. There are now over six times as many inhabitants, with rapid and chaotic urbanisation placing an enormous strain on the infrastructure of the city. The government of India is struggling to cope with the needs of a population of this size and the social problems that can accompany it. Meanwhile, population growth all over India means that people in rural areas find it even harder to earn a living from the land and so travelling to large cities in search of work remains an option.

Insecure settlements on unwanted land
The slum settlements take root in a variety of places. They can form next to railway lines, under bridges, on swampy ground or next to 5-star hotels, but they all have one thing in common; the people who settle there never own the land. The slum dwellers live in constant fear of eviction from their site as the authorities can decide to reclaim the land at any time, giving little notice.

Desire to Grow

Ram Singh, 55 years old has migrated from Rajasthan to Delhi with his family in 1979.He has his wife Chanda Devi who is 52 year old and his two sons Babloo 35 year old and Sundar Kumar who is 20 years old.All of them had divided the work amongst themselves and contribute in the family business.They have hired the house in Neb Sarai near to IGNOU in Delhi to put on the set-up for their business.

Ram Singh head of the family wanted his family to grow and that made him migrate from Rajasthan to Delhi.They make different types earthern wares like pots, gullaks(piggybanks)and many other.They use kaali mitti to make these items.They initially make it wet by putting water in it and call it as 'gonda'.Then after that it is put on electric chak to give it different shapes.After moulding it is kept in sun to dry.Dried pots are then heated in 'bhatti' to make it more durable.Lady of the family is adding life to pots by colouirng it.Apart from the family members some labourers from Rajasthan are also involved in the work to earn some money .

Babloo is uneducated but his brother Sundar is educated and wanted to up the higher studies in management.He wants to expand his father's business strategically to earn continuous profit and sustainable development.
Just check out the slide show to know more.