Informal Settlement and Urban Poor

Beyond the skyscrapers and posh lifestyle of cosmopolitan cities of India lie the lives of
millions of urban poor.1 Many individuals are forced to move to the city in search of job and
a means of subsistence due to poverty and a lack of productive employment in rural areas and
smaller towns. These people typically lack the education and skills necessary for the higher
paying occupations in the formal sector. Additionally, the number of permanent protected
jobs in the formal sector is on the decline, making it difficult for even individuals with the
necessary qualifications to find suitable employment. For these people, employment in the
unorganized sector is their only source of support. In most of the major cities, this has caused
the informal sector to grow quickly. Depending on the individual countries and cities,
between 40 and 80 per cent of urban dwellers in the world are living in poverty, with very
little or absolutely no access to shelter, basic urban services and social amenities. According
to a research paper titled Living standards and health problems of lesser fortunate slum
dwellers: Evidence from an Indian city, most slum dwellers are working as rickshaw pullers,
ragpicker, industry workers and construction workers, and are largely involved in street
vending, hawking, petty shop keeping and selling handicrafts. Since most of them are
involved in vending activities, they often face the threat of being evicted from their shops.
For the urban poor, street vending is one of the means of earning a livelihood, as it requires
minor financial input and the skills involved are low.

There are street vendors in almost every part of the city that provide a wide range of products
and services at affordable costs. The Supreme Court of India has noted that, from a consumer
point of view, street vendors “considerably add to the comfort and convenience of the general
public, by making available ordinary articles of everyday use for a comparatively lesser
price”.2 This is a particularly important role for the urban poor who cannot afford to shop at
supermarkets. However, as the formal economy expands, cities swell, and urban capital
concentrates, street vendors have to deal with fierce rivalry in order to access the city's
resources and public areas. Street vendors are part of the unorganized and informal economy,
although their value to the country's economy has only lately been acknowledged legally. An
1
Beyond the right of mere existence: From the lens of slum dwellers, available at: https://theleaflet.in/beyond-
the-right-of-mere-existence-from-the-lens-of-slum-dwellers/ (last visited on July 15, 2022)
2
Sodan Singh v. New Delhi Municipal Corporation& Others [1989] 4 SCC 155, available
at: http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1767433/.
important factor in the acceptance of vendors' rights over public space was two global
occurrences. First was the signing of the Bellagio International Declaration of Street Vendors
in 1995 and the second was the formation of StreetNet, an alliance of street vendors
in Durban in the year 2000. NASVI (National Association of Street Vendors of India),1998,
National Commission for Enterprises in Unorganized Sector (NCEUS),2000, The Street
Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 are some of
the important milestones of their struggle in India, however their struggle is still far from
over.3

Reasons for the growth of informal settlements in urban areas:

i) Population growth
As more people move from rural to urban areas and as the global population continues to rise
naturally, many nations are rapidly urbanizing. Population explosion and poverty force the
urban poor to live in slums and that leads to an increase in the size of slums.4

ii) Urban Poverty and Inequality

Urban migration happens for a number of reasons as given below:

 The pushing and pulling forces of migration-

Some individuals move as a result of being forced to leave their home country by events like
ongoing ecological changes or natural disasters. Some are drawn to a different location by
greater opportunities for employment, education, access to healthcare, or freedom from
constraining cultural or social norms.

 Low incomes from agriculture-

Most people in rural areas work in the agricultural sector, which is highly dependent on
weather. In addition, the fertility of rural land is often low or declining, land holdings are

3
For a detailed understanding of the struggle of street vendors for public space in India,
see: Sharit Bhowmik, “Introduction”, in his edited book Street Vendors in the Global
Urban Economy, pp. 1-18
4
Rapid growth of population, Factors responsible for growth of slums, insights IAS ,available at:
https://www.insightsonindia.com/social-justice/issues-related-to-urban-development/slums/factors-responsible-
for-growth-of-slums/#:~:text=Population%20explosion%20and%20poverty%20force,poor%20to%20move
%20into%20slums.
small, farm debt is high, and a large number of households are now landless. As a result, rural
incomes are generally low.

 Better job prospects-

The job opportunities in urban areas are significantly greater than in rural areas. In addition,
cities can provide more opportunities for upward social mobility because urban cultures are
frequently less restricted than those in rural areas.

 People know what cities can offer them-

The majority of migrants consciously decide whether to remain in rural areas or not. Rural
populations are much more aware of the benefits and drawbacks of urban life, thanks to
improved transportation, communications, and connections with earlier migrants, particularly
in terms of employment and housing.

 Urban migration is often a survival strategy for rural households5-

Sometimes, rural households split into several groups located in different places. Big cities,
small towns, and rural areas—to diversify their revenue streams and lessen their reliance on
economic downturns. Slums and informal settlements are home to a growing number of
people than just the impoverished, despite low incomes and limited household purchasing
power being a contributing factor in the issue. So, slum expansion is not exclusively the
result of poverty. An increasing proportion of relatively well-off individuals are turning to
housing outside of official systems. They discover that the only housing option available
outside of the formal market is living in slums, demonstrating the inadequacies of both
housing markets and the laws that prevent the supply of opportunities for affordable housing.

iii) Poverty:
Informal settlements are a result of the impoverished being pushed out of the formal land
delivery system when housing and other related infrastructural requirements are not met.
Both irregular rental tenancies and irregular occupations are part of these informal
settlements. Although the impoverished can save money in the near term by living in these
informal communities, their already vulnerable financial situation suffers multiple setbacks
over time. In the first place, unstable housing has a detrimental effect on the delivery of urban
5
Migration: Making the Move from Rural to Urban by Choice, available
at:https://www.iom.int/news/migration-making-move-rural-urban-choice( last visited on Oct 16,2017)
services and, as a result, on the financial status of the urban poor. Since governments see
basic service provision in informal settlements as a precursor to formal recognition of the
settlements and regularization of tenure, they often resist providing such services. Because
they are forced to rely on unofficial service providers at a cost significantly greater than other
urban households, slum residents' pricing are distorted for both land and services.

Characteristics of informal settlement dwellers

i) Poor Housing conditions 6

In terms of the physical conditions and housing standards it is important to keep in mind the
comparative nature of the definitions. A slum should be judged physically according to the
general living standards of a country. Slums have commonly been defined as those portions
of cities in which housing is crowded, neglected deteriorated and often obsolete. Many of the
inadequate housing conditions can be attributed to poorly arranged structures, inadequate
lighting and circulation, lack of sanitary facility, overcrowding and inadequate maintenance.

ii) Overcrowding and congestion

A slum may be an area which is overcrowded with buildings or a building overcrowded with
people or both. Some slum areas like in Delhi, have 40, 00,000 people per square mile. “On
its streets, India eats, works, sleeps, moves, celebrates and worships. The street is a stage that
rarely sleeps,” wrote Arjun Appadurai, a renowned socio-cultural anthropologist.7 The
management of public spaces is a pressing problem in most cities. India is no exception.
Vendors are often accused of encroaching on streets, depriving pedestrians of their walking
space, or for causing traffic jams. The moot questions are: From who are public spaces being
safeguarded and who is safeguarded?8

iii) Neighbourhood facilities

6
7 UN-HABITAT. “The Global Housing Affordability Challenge,” Urban Data Digest, Version 2.
(2019),available at:
https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/06/
urban_data_digest_the_global_housing_affordability_challenge.pdf p. 6
7
. Abhayraj Naik, “‘Wizards at Making a Virtue of Necessity’: Street Vendors in India,” Socio-Legal Review 11,
no. 1 (2015): 1-60. Available at https://tinyurl.com/y36qzr3z.
8
S. K. Bhowmik, “National Policy for Street Vendors,” Economic and Political Weekly 38, no. 16 (2003):
1543–1546.
A poor slum is invariably associated with poor facilities and community services. Along with
shabbiness and dilapidation, schools are of poor quality and other public facilities are often
insufficient. Streets and sidewalks often go unrepaired and rubbish and garbage are
infrequently collected adding to the undesirable environment. Shortage of water, electricity
and sanitary facility are common in most of the slums.

iv) Poor Sanitation and Health

Slums are generally been dirty and unclean places which is defined largely in terms of the
physical deterioration, stressing particularly unsanitary conditions and lack of sufficient
facilities like water and latrines. In urban areas this is especially critical and for many
observers the condition of solid waste disposal is the first impression of unacceptable living
condition. These factors have resulted in high rates death and disease. In slum areas of
developing countries, the rate of disease like malaria, chronic illness and infant mortality are
exceptionally high.

v) Deviant Behaviour

A high incidence of deviant behaviour - crime, juvenile delinquency, prostitution,

drunkenness, drug usage, mental disorder, suicide, ill legitimacy and family maladjustments
have long been associated with slum living. It is a fact that vice

may be found in slums but is by no means confined only to the slums. Due to the lack of
money and power often slum dwellers are prove to be pressurized by the goons of upper
classes to commit crime. It is a vicious cycle for the sum dwellers.

vi) The Culture of the Slum- a way of life

Slums differ widely with respect to the social organization of their Inhabitants. They range
from the slums in which the inhabitants are strangers to one another, to the family slums in
which there is a wide acquaintance between the inhabitants. Slums inhabited by immigrant
groups may have a firm social organization. Culture might be defined as system of symbols
or meanings for the normative conduct of standards, having three distinct properties. It is
transmittable, it is learned and it is shared. The slum has a culture of its own and this culture
is the way of life. This way of life is passed from generation to generation with its own
rationale, structure ad defense mechanism, which provides the means to continue in spite of
difficulties and deprivation. It is the habits, customs and behaviour pattern people have
learned and which they hold that move them to act in a particular way. Although, these
cultural patterns are typical of the slum, form ethnic groups to ethnic groups, from own
society to society to another.

vii) Apathy and Social Isolation

Every residential area within the modern city tends to be socially isolated from others, partly
by choice and partly by location. The slum is especially so, as it is inhabited by the people of
the lowest status. A slum also has an image in the eyes of the larger community. There is a
societal reaction to slum dwellers. The non-slum dweller often associates the physical
appearance and difficult living conditions of the slums with belief in the “Natural inferiority”
of those who live in slums. This reaction has important consequences in the social isolation of
slum dwellers and their exclusion, from power and participation in urban society. The slum
dwellers often lack an effective means of communication with the outside world.

Important Indian judgements related –

i) The Delhi High Court’s judgment in Samar Pal versus Union of India9 sheds
light on the crude life of slum dwellers, and raises the pertinent question of
whether the right to life can be separated from the right to livelihood. The
petitioners, in this case, were forced to move from one slum area to another owing
to the development activities being undertaken by the Railways. As a result of
displacement, these slum dwellers found it difficult to find work and consequently,
they faced difficulties in sustaining themselves.

ii) The Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation10 judgment in 1985 ruled
that eviction of pavement dwellers using unreasonable force, without giving them
a chance to explain is unconstitutional. It is a violation of their right to livelihood.

iii) In 2010, In Sudama Singh v. Government of Delhi11,by ruling that adequate

housing acts as the crucible for human well-being and development, bringing
together elements related to ecology, sustained, and sustainable development, the

9
Samarpal & Ors vs Uoi & Ors on 4 July, 2022
10
Olga Tellis & Ors vs Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985) 3 SCC 545

11
Sudama Singh & Others Vs. Government Of Delhi & Anr. 168 (2010) DLT 218
 court acknowledged the relationship between human well-being and development
and adequate housing.
iv) Further, a landmark Delhi High Court judgment in 2019 in Ajay Makan v. Union
of India12 provided slum residents with constitutional protections from forced and
unannounced evictions. It held that slum dwellers could not be evicted without a
survey first being conducted by an authority and consulting the residents sought to
be evicted. Further, it directed the establishment of a draft protocol for carrying
out evictions after a survey, so that no one eligible for rehabilitation is evicted
before being provided with rehabilitation.

Initiatives by Indian Government:

The Government has taken several steps for slum redevelopment13-

i) Slum areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, (1956): The Act aims to protect
tenants from eviction while also facilitating the improvement and cleanup of slum
areas in a number of Union Territories. It grants the relevant authorities the power
to identify any area as a slum in line with the definition, look into potential
improvements, or completely remove slums.
ii) National Slum Development Programme (NSDP): It was initiated in
1996.Based on the number of urban slums in each state, it gave loans and
subsidies for slum rehabilitation projects.
iii) Valmiki Ambedkar Malina Basti Awas Yojana (VAMBAY): It was introduced
in 2001. 20% of the total funding was set aside for community sanitation facilities
as part of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) program, with a focus on housing for
the urban poor.
iv) Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP): BSUP was an important component
of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). BSUP aimed
to provide basic services to urban poor in 63 largest cities in India by population.
v) Slum Redevelopment Scheme (SRS): It was launched by the Government of
Maharashtra in 1995. It permitted the redevelopment of slums by owners,
developers, cooperatives, or non-governmental organizations. The plan granted
12
Ajay Maken Vs. Union of India {260 (2019) DLT 581}
13
Insight IAS, “Government Initiatives to manage Slums”, available at: https://www.insightsonindia.com/social-
justice/issues-related-to-urban-development/slums/government-initiatives-to-manage-slums/
 developers Transferable Development Rights (TDR) and offered financial
incentives based on the Floor Space Index (FSI) in order to entice private
developers to underutilized public land. It also established the Slum Rehabilitation
Authority (SRA).
vi) Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY): It was launched in 2013. The main goals were to
integrate the slums into the formal system and provide them with the same basic
services as the rest of the town. It also attempted to address the lack of housing
and land in cities, which prevented poor people from accessing shelter.
vii) Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)14: Its
mission is to provide basic services (e.g. water supply, sewerage, urban transport)
to households and build amenities in cities which will improve the quality of life
for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

Way forward -

For inclusive and equitable urban futures to be realized, following key policy measures can
be taken:15

i) Investing in hard and soft infrastructure as part of a multifaceted strategy to combat

urban poverty and inequality can address the various social, cultural, and physical
obstacles that cause marginalization and exclusion.
ii) Providing infrastructure and basic services to underserved communities can be a
catalyst for inclusive and equitable urban futures.
iii) Combating poverty and inequality requires identifying and assisting workers in the
unorganized sector through specialized social protection programs and flexible urban
planning and policies.
iv) Inclusive and gender transformative approaches are required for building equitable
urban futures.
v) As a strategy for wealth redistribution and combating poverty and inequality, urban
sensitive social protection has great potential.

14
AMRUT scheme, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, PIB (2022), available at:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1885837
15
Poverty and Inequality: Enduring Features of an Urban Future?, WORLD CITIES REPORT 2022,available at:
https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/07/chapter_3_wcr_2022.pdf
 vi) Place-based interventions can help to strengthen the resilience of "urban weak spots"
like slums and informal settlements.

A report published by the American nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity16

enumerates several successful projects that have implemented the aforementioned strategy in
numerous nations. India needs to absorb these lessons and create a special, interactive
program for the rehabilitation of urban poor living in slums. Should the state fail to
implement such measures, the issue will continue and fundamental rights of urban poor will
continue to be violated.

REFRENCES

 Desai. A. R and S. Devadas Pillai. Eds. (1990). Slums and Urbanisation. Bombay.

Popular Prakashan.

 Clinard. Marshal. B. (1966). Slums and Community Development-Experiments in

self-help. London and Newyork. The free Press. Macmillian Ltd.
 Slums of the World: The face of urban poverty in the new millennium? By unhabitat
https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/download-manager-files/Slums%20of%20the
%20World%20The%20face%20of%20urban%20poverty%20in%20the%20new
%20millennium%20.pdf
 (2022,July 15) Beyond the right of mere existence: From the lens of slum dwellers
https://theleaflet.in/beyond-the-right-of-mere-existence-from-the-lens-of-slum-
dwellers/

16
Habitat for Humanity. “Sustainable Development Goal 11 Target 11.1”,Progress Report, available at:
https://www.habitat.org/sites/default/files/documents/SDG%20Progress%20Report.pdf
 Slums-human rights live here-Amnesty International
https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/act350042009en.pdf