basic services

While the power of asset-owning landlords in rural India is well-understood, less attention has been paid to the same in urban areas. Examining Kapashera, a low-middle income settlement in Delhi, this article outlines the housing typologies and dynamism in landlord-tenant relations that relegated working class migrants to exploitative housing experiences.

India’s urban landscape is dotted with a diversity of urban areas, where large metros like Delhi or Mumbai co-exist alongside a dense network of small towns. While house-building across the urban spectrum was significant and was equally high in all tiers of cities and towns over the past decade, the leap from houses to housing (viz. access to basic amenities) was not similarly universal over the same period.

Owning a house is a dream shared by many Indians. This dream is mediated by several realities, including social status. What does it mean to own a house for members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), historically marginalised sections of society?

By examining access to a bundle of basic amenities – electricity, piped water and in-house latrines – by homeowners in slum (and non-slum) households and documenting how this varies across states and cities in India, the authors of this data-centric piece offer insights into how the quality of housing structures need to urgently be seen alongside access and quality of basic amenities to ensure improved quality of life in Indian cities. In a post-CoVID moment, these data points urge us to reflect on how inflexible land regulations and services delivery mechanisms have historically disadvantaged slum households in terms of public provision of, as well as private investment in, basic amenities.

This is the report of a research study conducted in Ahmedabad to study the provision of housing and other facilities for the workers who live “on-site”; explore the regulatory framework for this provisioning; try to develop an understanding on how developers and contractors view their workers’ housing question and how it can be improved; and for this purpose, also review interventions for migrant workers’ housing in other countries and other Indian states that could inform these ideas.

Water and sanitation concerns of Indian slums need to be addressed in the fight against coronavirus, otherwise it can have a nationwide impact.