Slums have different foreshadow in different countries. For Indians, it is the places with large muster cluster of people with lack of facilities, substandard houses, narrow lanes, lack of ventilation, light and sanitation facilities, such aspects are determined as menace for any human. But we must excogitate that people are not living there because they wish to, but the dialectic is that they are impecunious, and they don’t have any option other than Slums.
The Census of India defines a slum as “a clot area consists of more than 300 in population or about more than 60 % houses are poorly built, with the dilemma of improper living facilities. The United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, defines slum as “a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security“.
The omnipotent people always engender plans for decreasing their dilemma, but most of these plans never execute. They beget the movie like “Slumdog Millionaire” for creating awareness in the eyes of people, but end with no metamorphosis in the society. Such awareness is giving an enlightenment of slums, and their problems, but after gazing at such movies, people come just for perceiving the poor surroundings as they clicked the pictures of slum people and areas but they never fathom that such children would be more exultant if they support them in terms of education, health, and their other needs. The slums don’t need movies based on them, all they need is a true economic help in terms of finance, education, a proper housing facilities, women empowerment plans, etc.
Are Slums a Problem?
For Urban people, they spoil the look of the city. Because they are beget with poverty and high degree of unemployment and this high rate of Unemployment make them criminals. But are they doing all this intentionally? Their poverty has forced them to live in such conditions. They are not inhuman, who should be discarded from the society. The basic antitheses between slum and non-slum person is education. The proper education would make them financially good then they would not choose the option of crime for accomplishment of their necessary exigency. But who will educate poor? The education in colleges and schools are much expensive, they can’t afford it. There is a need of free basic education in India. While, Government provides them free education with uniform, books, etc. The second need after that is to make them aware about such betterments by the government and make them realize the supremacy of education in their life. I hope this would improve their living situation more efficiently.
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Hypocrisy of a Photographer - Have you ever noticed people with huge black cameras roaming about here and there in some dingy slum area as they click pictures that scream poverty and sheer helplessness?
In Ahmedabad (India), 25% of the population consumed 90% of the salutary water while the rest uses 10%. Sanitary conditions are much abominable in slums. Infant mortality rates are colossal by 1.8 times in slums as compared to non-slums areas. It has been reported that 50% urban child mortality rates is the result of poor sanitation and lack of access of clean drinking water in the urban slums.
After so much of augmentation in the cities like Metro, Expressway, Highways, large numbers of high stories houses, there is no enhancement in the life of slums. What will they do with such increment, if they don’t have cash in their pocket? The Malls never create curiosity in their life, because of lack of education and specially money.
What leads to rapid increase in the bulk of slums in the city? Just think about it, the poor and undeveloped situation of their distant villages bring them here, to earn some money. The uncontrolled urbanization is directly connected to the migration from rural areas to urban cities. They came here to earn wages and basic perks. But what has government done to tackle this?
All major Slums in India needs the same help from the Government. That is:
If government would improve the situation of villages, as by augmenting them, and there would be less need of migration from rural to urban. They would not have to leave their homes and family for acquiring cash. The Slums would no longer destroy the beauty of urban cities.
Not only Government, many non-profit organizations are also working on it, to bring the change. Every individual should do something to improve the situation of Slums and they can do it by making efforts to aware them about education and provide them food for saving them from Mal-Nutrition. If every Individual would take a step against it, then such predicaments would be easily tackle and removed from the glory of life. This is you, who can change the world, so change it!!