School of Public Policy and Governance Tata Institute of Social Science, Hyderabad STUDENT WORKING PAPER SERIES NO. 1, DECEMBER 2015
Conditions And Processes For Success Of Urban Slum Transformation : A Case Study
Alen John Samuel C
 
School of Public Policy and Governance Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad Roda Mistry College of Social Work and Research Centre, Opposite Biodiversity Park, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana - 500008 Email : sppg-si@tiss.edu Website : http://goo.gl/mQGBpF
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About Student Working Paper Series The Student Working Paper Series, is an attempt by the School of Public Policy and Governance, at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad to assimilate papers being worked upon the topics that will help enrich the public discourses by improving upon the clarity, accuracy and sophistication of discussions on the nation's Public Policy. About School of Public Policy and Governance The School of Public Policy and Governance (SPPG) is a novel research based teaching and training space designed to equip young professionals to contribute to the policy area research. SPPG provides opportunities to its students to think beyond conventional models of growth and development, and encourages them to generate ideas for developing institutional frameworks for accountable governance and the establishment of a socially equitable society. Its programs and activities are designed to create an environment for the well-trained scholars to access and collect information about contemporary policies and activities surrounding them so that they can produce timely research and undertake analysis on key topics of Public Policy. SPPG TISS - HYDERABAD
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Conditions And Processes For Success Of Urban Slum Transformation: A Case Study1 - Alen John Samuel C Abstract Housing for the urban poor has been a gripping problem in India. Although housing has been on the agenda of the government since the First Five Year Plan, little has been achieved since then. The dominance of private players in the housing sector accompanied by the change in the role of government from that of a builder to a facilitator, which are the results of the economic liberalisation started in the 1980s, have not produced admirable results. Under these conditions, it becomes essential to understand how interventions by the state can provide solutions to the housing problem of the urban poor. This paper presents the factors and processes which resulted in the success of an urban housing project, under a welfare state framework. Key actors are identified and their role under the social and political environments is studied. Policy lessons are drawn although their applicability elsewhere has to consider the local circumstances. Finally, the unaddressed issues and concerns for the future are recognized. The paper concludes that a successful slum transformation is a multi-stakeholder process which demands continuous and proactive participation of all the actors and which could be influenced by the existing political culture.
Key words: housing, welfare state, Five Year Plan, slum transformation
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I would like to express my gratitude to Dr Aseem Prakash, Chairperson and Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Governance, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, and Prof K.P. Kannan, Chairman, Laurie Baker Centre for Habitat Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, and Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development, Thiruvananthapuram for their priceless guidance and support.
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Introduction A significant proportion of the Indian population is either homeless or live in slums or dilapidated houses. The state owned National Housing Bank projects a housing shortage of 18.8 million units in cities alone, for the period 2012-17 (NHB, 2013). Going by the present average size of urban households, which is approximately 5.1, this figure implies that nearly 96 million people in the urban areas face the problem of housing shortage. Nearly 95 percent of this shortage is with regard to the Economically Weaker Sections (households with monthly income of less than Rs 3300) and Low Income Groups (households with monthly income between Rs 3301 and Rs 7300). In 1951, the urban housing shortage was 2.5 million (Government of India, 1956), which indicates that the shortage has increased to more than seven times in the past 60 years. Developing countries are home to 863 million slum dwellers and India houses nearly one-eighth of them (United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 2013). The gravity of the housing situation in India demonstrated through the above facts becomes more evident when one understands what persons or households without proper housing lack. Housing has direct connection with the idea and realisation of entitlements, apart from its basic utility as shelter and role in leading a dignified and healthy life. When a household has a house to live in, own or rented, it gives them an address which is an important window to a range of entitlements2 . Entitlements lead to citizenship, as they create a claim on the state. Aalbers and Christophers (2014) point out that housing leads to acquiring citizenship rights in many part of the world. T. H. Marshall in his exemplary essay, Citizenship and Social Class, distinguishes between three elements- civil, political, and social, of citizenship. The social element is defined as “the whole range from the right to a modicum of economic welfare and security to the right to share to the full in the social heritage and to live the life of a civilised being according to the standards prevailing in the society”. These encompassed not only rights to public education and healthcare but also to housing and legal aid (T. H. Marshall, as cited in Jayal, 2013). Jayal’s dissection of the concept of citizenship into its different dimensions also presents a similar picture. She points out that citizenship is not just a legal status, but also a “bundle of rights and entitlements, ... and a
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However, it must not be concluded that others do not have access to entitlements. Government policy can grant entitlements to people who do not have any legal title of property. For instance, the residents in the Karimadom colony, where the field work was done, had entitlements such as ration card well before they were granted housing rights.
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sense of identity and belonging” (Jayal, 2013). She also claims that housing is an entitlement which is operationalised by the state in different forms. Only the enjoyment of amenities like housing makes the people of a country its “full and true” citizens, who would otherwise remain “nominal” citizens. The motivation for this paper is derived from the conviction that the present status as well as the projected status for the immediate future of housing in India is in contradiction to the welfare ideology that the Indian state upholds. In such a scenario, it becomes crucial to devise ways to effectively address the problem. There are two directions in which one could proceed to find solutions; one could be to analyse how certain projects failed, to understand what should not be done, the other could be to examine how some of the projects succeeded, to arrive at what could be possibly done. There have been numerous studies on the former (Mahadevia, Datey, & Mishra, 2013; Mahadevia, Bhatia, & Bhonsale, 2014) which markedly point out the failures in policies and implementation. This paper has adopted the latter approach. It attempts to arrive at the conditions under and processes through which the interactions among state, market, and people result in the creation of housing rights for the economically weaker sections in urban India under a welfare state framework. In this endeavour, a case study of Karimadom slum transformation project in Thiruvananthapuram district of the south Indian state of Kerala has been undertaken. The aim of the study was to discover the factors and processes that enabled the project to become a success. How to define success could be a subjective exercise, but for this paper, the qualitative analysis of the life of the beneficiaries before and after the project has been taken as the process to conclude that the project has been a success. Housing and Welfare State Presently, housing is seen as a component of the welfare state3 ideology. In fact, it has been one of the four pillars of the welfare state, the other being social security, health, and education. The place of housing within the welfare state has changed with the evolution of the concept of welfare state with time. Conley and Gifford (2006) point out that in the 19th century, housing was just a health issue. Unsanitary urban living spaces were linked with the spread of diseases. After 1880, it 3
Asa Briggs defines welfare state as “a state in which organized power is deliberately used (through politics and administration) in an effort to modify the play of market forces” (source included in bibliography).
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attained an economic dimension also. Across Europe, regulation of rent and tenant rights emerged. But it was still not seen as a source of income support; it was a consumption good that a majority of people found struggled to afford. The shift in perspective happened after World War II, when the countries which were badly affected by the war saw provision of affordable housing as their chief concern. Other western countries, which were not seriously affected by the war, could stress on increasing rates of home ownership. Lately, scholars have begun to recognise that welfare states are more than income redistribution and pension, and non-cash benefits like housing and education also have found space in the domain of welfare policies, mainly because it is an important source of income security. With the growth of Keynesian economic policy4 , the welfare state and its provisions including housing came to be seen not as burden on economies, but as stabilising factors (Offe, 1982). At present, one of the functions of the welfare state is “decommodification of the needs of the citizenry- that is, the conversion of needs from goods allocated by the market to ones distributed as social rights” (Esping-Andersen, as cited in Conley & Gifford, 2006). With regard to housing, this implies that the citizens need not sell themselves to earn a house, that they need to perceive themselves as commodities which could be exchanged for housing. This is a significant concept, because the main problem associated with housing is not the non-availability in the market, but the un-affordability by a large section of the society. The Directive Principles of State Policy5 constitute the very soul of the Indian Constitution (Markandan, as cited in Hardgrave, 1968). They are “the embodiment of the ideals and aspirations of the people of India and the goal towards which they expect the State to march for their attainment (ibid.). Article 38 states that “The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and promoting as affectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic, and political, shall inform all the institutions of national life”. As Rao points out, “[i]n particular, the duty is enjoined upon the State of securing the citizens the right to adequate livelihood, of regulating the ownership of all material resources of the community in the interests of common good, of preserving the health and strength of workers, of protecting men, women, and children from exploitation on account of any supposed force of economic necessity (Rao, 1949). 4
Proactive government intervention in the economy, as opposed to the Conservative idea of minimum state intervention. 5
Contained in Part IV of the Constitution of India.
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Briggs points out that in 19th century Britain, Booth and Rowntree had found out that may people are poor not because of their fault but due to characteristics of the market system (Briggs, 1969). In the present day, if the housing sector dominated by the private players does not offer houses to the low income groups at affordable prices, knowing that there exists a high income group which can well afford the high prices, the Directive Principles remind that the state cannot let the former remain homeless. The duty to undertake such interventions in a market society bestows the welfare characteristic to the Indian state. Housing in India under the Plans, Policies, and Programmes Five Year Plans6 The Planning Commission was set up in India in 1950 with the primary tasks of assessing the resources of the country and formulating plans for effective utilisation of those resources. Since 1951, the Planning Commission has been formulating Five Year Plans (and Annual Plans when Five Year Plans could not be formulated due to reasons such as war and emergency) which allocated financial and other resources to different sectors. The Five Year Plans (henceforth Plans/ Plan) also have been the main instruments of development of the country. Every Plan analysed the performance under the previous one and set targets to be achieved at the end of the normal five year tenure. Housing also has been given significant importance since the first Plan. Different plans had devised different strategies to suit the requirements of the corresponding time.
Table 1 summarises the major thrust areas and shifts in focus with respect to the housing sector from the First Plan until the Twelfth Plan. Table 1 6
The website of Planning Commission has been referred to collect details regarding all the plans.
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Summary of Five Year Plans with regard to Housing Period
Approach towards housing
Remarks
First Plan period
Focus on low income groups.
Middle income groups benefited
(1951-56)
as low income groups were not able to afford the houses.
Second Plan period
Slum clearance and rehabilitation of
Not effective, as the new housing
(1956-61)
housing.
stock was inadequate in number. People were unwilling to live away from their means of livelihoods.
Third Plan period
Slum improvement, in place of slum
Realised that evicting all slum
(1961-66)
clearance.
dwellers and clearing slums are not practical.
Fourth Plan period
Town planning, institutions for housing
First steps of planned urban
(1969-74)
finance.
development.
Fifth Plan period
Control of land prices, development of
Medium and high income groups
(1974-79)
medium towns.
benefited as lion share of the funds from housing boards went to middle and higher income groups.
Sixth Plan period
Provision of basic facilities in slums and
Not effective, as the period
(1980-85)
development of small and medium
witnessed large scale slum
towns.
eviction in Delhi in 1976 when more than 7 lakhs people were uprooted.
Seventh Plan period Government should focus more on
Government started withdrawal as
(1985-90)
facilitating housing by the private sector
a major builder in the housing
and by people, and should focus on
sector.
building houses only for the poor. Eighth Plan period
Not only housing is enough, but an
Influenced by economic
(1992-97)
integrated approach including water,
liberalisation, housing was seen as
sanitation, and other basic amenities.
an economic component also.
Housing not only as a necessity, but also an important economic activity. Ninth Plan Period
Making land and finance available for
(1997-2002)
housing. Construction of houses only for a major, increased role for Urban priority groups.
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Further withdrawal of the state as Local Bodies.
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Tenth Plan period
Dominance of neoliberal approach,
Housing seen as a major
(2002-07)
market driven urban development.
component of urban renewal, against the backdrop of increasing urbanisation.
Eleventh Plan
Further push for private sector, easier
period (2007-12)
framework related to land and laws for
Further push for urban renewal.
private sector involvement. Twelfth Plan period
In-situ rehabilitation of slums, rental
Private sector given leeway in
(2012-17)
housing.
land development, state sticks to development of existing slums.
Policy Shifts from the Vantage Point of Welfare State The approach towards housing by the Plans had changed with time. Plan outlays for subsidised industrial housing and housing for plantation workers in the first three Plans signify that the Plans had a wide target group with regard to housing. However, with time, the number of groups targeted as beneficiaries of housing programmes grew smaller. This was mainly due to the realisation that the housing shortage had grown to such a high level that it became practically impossible for the state to at least promise housing delivery to all. Under the First Plan, the total housing outlay was 1.96 percent of the total Plan outlay. This figure was reduced to 1.06 percent under the Eighth Plan. Similarly, public investment in housing under the First Plan stood at 22 percent of the combined public and private investment but was lowered to 8 percent under the Seventh Plan (Sivam & Karuppannan, 2002). The nature of the goals also had changed over time. The first three Plans targeted slum clearance. The fourth Plan marked a policy shift by noting that slum clearance would not be effective everywhere, especially in big cities. The sixth Plan clearly indicates the shift in approach from slum clearance to slum improvement. It notes that it would be a bad policy measure to demolish the existing housing stock in the form of slums, however inferior it may be, in the face of increasing housing shortage. Instead, the Plan envisioned improved sanitation and drainage facilities in the slums to make them better places to live. The argument of Sivam and Karuppannan that the numerous unauthorised settlements including slums stand as “evidence of the failure of the state and the market to provide housing at affordable prices to poor” (ibid.) is a direct critique of the state’s approach towards slums.
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Post economic liberalisation in the early 1990s, there was an influx of private players into the urban space. With the establishment of more firms, new, old, domestic, and international, and the growth of the economy, resources in the urban areas, especially land, became more sought after. Economic growth driven by the private sector gained priority on the government agenda. This reduced the government’s focus on housing for the urban poor, for which land is a necessary resource. Presently, the state is in a position where it merely acts as a facilitator for the private sector which mainly offers services to the middle and upper income groups. Batra (2009) points out that even the latest urban development flagship programme, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) “seeks to set in motion a predominantly market driven process of urban development with the state merely playing the role of a ‘facilitator’ and ‘regulator’”. Public Housing in Kerala: Programmes and Schemes Krishna (2012) observes that Kerala’s initiatives in the housing sector were limited to implementing the various central government schemes until the 1970s. Seven out of the eight (88 percent) major housing schemes until 1972 for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in Kerala were implemented by the Central government. Contrary to this, from 1972-1999, 11 out of 14 (79 percent) major housing schemes for the same category were implemented by the state government. After the establishment of the Kerala State Housing Board (KSHB) in 1971, public housing grew rapidly. This shows a significant shift from the Central government to the state government as the principal agency for public housing (ibid.). The One Lakh Housing Scheme (OLHS) for the poor landless agricultural labourers implemented during 1972-1976 was the first massive public housing scheme in Kerala. The striking aspect of the scheme was the resource mobilisation by collecting donations from the public, free labour provided by beneficiaries, members of voluntary organisations, and students (ibid.). The scheme built 60,000 houses, against a target of 96,000. The success of the model of beneficiary participation led to the launching of Subsidised Aided Self-Help Housing Scheme (SASH) in 1983, for economically weaker sections. The third major programme was the Rehabilitation Housing Scheme which was launched after the devastating natural calamities in 1984-85, for the economically weaker sections who lost houses. The scheme made use of the maximum available institutional finance from agencies like the Housing
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Development Finance Corporation, Housing and Urban Development Corporation etc. The Total Housing Scheme (THS) initiated in 1999 aimed at fulfilling the housing needs of the poor in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, and Kollam. The scheme constructed almost one lakh houses in the first two years. Kerala State Housing Policy 2011 The “updated version” of the State Housing Policy of 1994 was introduced in 2011. The Policy views housing rights as basic human rights, as recognised by international conventions. Rights based approach, focus on the needs of the marginalised sections such as SCs, STs, fishermen, destitute, poorest of the poor, landless, and women-headed households, target of closing the housing gap of 12 lakhs by 2017, and integration of livelihood support mechanism were the key aspects of the Policy (Kerala State Housing Policy, 2011). In tune with the National Policy, the State Policy also had sustainable development of the habitat and affordable housing as major approaches. However, the major difference of the State Policy from the National Policy is with regard to the role of the government. While the National Policy, following the trend in the recent decades, states that the chief role of the government is to create a favourable environment in which the private sector can lead the activities in the housing sector, the State Policy mandates that the state government shall play the roles of not only a facilitator but also a builder. Public sector agencies, especially the Local Self Government Institutions (LSGIs) “will be encouraged to have a more focused attention in this direction by providing adequate resources, supportive operational framework and professional capability building programmes” (ibid.). Institutional changes in public sector agencies have been suggested for this purpose. Another notable feature of the State Policy is the Public Private Panchayath Partnership (PPPP) models. This stems from the fact that the LSGIs are the main implementing agencies of the development of the infrastructure of electricity, water supply etc. (ibid.). Therefore, the incorporation of LSGIs in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) models can boost the efficiency of the projects by ensuring timely completion of the projects and increasing quality of services (ibid.). Apart from these slightly distinctive aspects, the rest of the policy is majorly along the lines of the National Policy.
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JNNURM and BSUP in Kerala The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has selected Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin among the cities where the Sub-Mission on Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) is implemented. Kudumbashree7 functions as the state nodal agency for BSUP. Karimadom colony, where the field work was carried out, has been redeveloped under BSUP. Field Research: Karimadom Colony and Slum Transformation Project - An Overview
The field work for data collection was undertaken in Karimadom colony in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, during the month of November, 20148. Karimadom is one of the largest colonies in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. The colony is home to 632 families and 2341 people. The baseline survey conducted by 2010 estimated that 57 percent of the residents are Muslims, while the others are Hindus and Christians. This proportion of Muslims is much higher than that of Thiruvananthapuram city, which has 15 percent Muslims, 18 percent Christians, and 65 percent Hindus as per Census of India, 2011. In the late 1990s, 72 houses were rebuilt by the government in the colony. The rest of the 560 families continued to live in shacks and impoverished houses until the slum transformation project. As the area was 60 cm below the road surface level, during monsoons, sewage overflow caused water logging in the slum leading to serious health hazards and property damage9. The residents were forced to live temporarily in a community hall in the colony or on rest outside the colony until the water level returned to normal. Most of the residents were daily wage labourers, lacking a permanent source of income. The slum was home to vulnerable sections such as widows, single women, and disabled. The implementing agency of the slum transformation project, the Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development (COSTFORD), had planned a three-phased transformation 7
A women-centered poverty alleviation programme, initiated as a joint programme of the Government of Kerala and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). 8
More details about the fieldwork such as methodology have been included in the Chapter 1.
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The details of the colony are provided in the website of COSTFORD, the implementing agency of the slum transformation project (http://costford.com/Karimadom%20Colony.html).
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process. The first phase, completed in 2009, constructed 80 dwelling units. 60 units were completed in the second phase, and 180 are planned in the third phase. The project will not be completed in three stages as initially planned, and will extend to the fourth stage, where the remaining 240 dwelling units would be constructed. COSTFORD is making use of affordable, sustainable, and environment-friendly housing technology, pioneered by renowned architect, the late Laurie Baker. The beneficiaries will be given housing rights, while the land will continue to be owned by its present owner, the Kerala Water Authority. Apart from this, individual water supply, sanitation, electricity, and smokeless chula for households, rejuvenation of the sewage pond, biogas plant, drainage, bio fencing, retaining wall, rainwater harvesting, tree planting and landscaping, study centre, anganwadi, and library are planned to be instituted as part of the slum transformation project. Methodology of Research Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 household of Karimadom colony for the data collection. An interview guide was prepared before commencing the field work which contained the topics on which the questions were to be asked. During the interviews, information was gathered on the following: 1.Social demographic details of the household such as number of members, occupation, sex, age, religion, and caste of the members. 2.The process of slum transformation from the commencement of the idea of the housing project to the end where the slum dwellers acquired housing rights. 3.The kind of property rights acquired. 4.Major actors in the slum transformation process. 5.Problems after slum transformation. 6.Religions and caste equations in the colony affecting all the above. Apart from the beneficiary households, the following individuals were interviewed: 1.The Chairman of COSTFORD, the implementing agency of slum transformation project.
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2.The Joint Director of COSTFORD. 3.Ex-Municipal Corporator, in whose period the slum transformation project was initiated. After the field work, the responses by the households were carefully analysed to arrive at the factors and processes which played a major role in the success of the slum transformation project. Factors and Processes which Played a Major Role in the Success of the Project Politically Informed Polity and Responsive State The coexistence of politically aware people and political apparatus that responds to the voice of the people was the prime factor in enabling the creation of housing rights for the people. Bringing the miserable living conditions in the colony to the attention of the then Municipal Councillor triggered the process of slum transformation. Proactive discussions took place between both these parties. The political machineries of the city and state were compelled to consider the issue, majorly because Karimadom was one of the oldest and biggest slums in the state city of the capital. The people possessed the political awareness regarding what to expect from the state and at the same time, the political apparatus had the will to respond to the aspirations of the people. The series of interactions finally paved way to the conception of the slum transformation programme. Taking a digression, it is imperative to present a picture of the development model of Kerala at this point. The state of Kerala has been an interesting case study for development scholars. It is mainly because of the fact that Kerala had demonstrated that it is possible to achieve high social development without going through rapid industrialisation or socialist revolution. This remarkable achievement attracted attention after the publication of a case study in 1975 by the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, on poverty, unemployment, and development policy in Kerala (Parayil & Sreekumar, 2007). “It brought into focus Kerala's developmental trajectory, which was marked by low per capita income and high unemployment characteristically shared by many poor regions in the Third World and surprisingly high levels of literacy and life expectancy and low levels of fertility, infant and adult mortality that are usually associated with highly industrialized regions of the North” (ibid.). This was later hailed as the famous “Kerala model of development”.
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The process of Karimadom slum transformation stands as an evidence to the non-conclusive but provisional explanation for the evolution of the “Kerala model of development. Briggs points out that in Europe after the Second World War, a sharpened sense of democracy resulted in more comprehensive and optimal, instead of minimal, services being provided to the people by the state, which marked a notable shift in the evolution of the welfare state. It must be noted that this shift is a result of the “demands” by the citizens, not the free will of the state” (Briggs, 1969). Dreze and Sen point out that (as cited in Parayil & Sreekumar, 2007) in Kerala, public action and popular demand for social provisions articulated by a literate and politically alert population reinforce each other. This could be positioned analogous to the development in Europe that Briggs pointed out. The notable feature in both the cases is citizens raising new demands and the state responding to them. Additionally, the state response becomes stimulus for further demands from the citizens, as Dreze and Sen note. This political culture, which is the coexistence of a politically aware population and a political apparatus which had to be socially responsive in Kerala, creates an environment in which people’s aspirations for social provisions are considered and delivered by the state. People’s Proactive Participation People’s participation in the process of slum transformation was no less an important factor in deciding the success of housing rights delivery under the Karimadom project. The UN Economic and Social Council, 1956, Twentieth Report to ECOSOC of the UN Administrative Committee on Coordination E/2931, UN, New York, mentions participation of people themselves in efforts to improve their standard of living as one of the elements of Community Development (Cornwall, 2006). A World Bank-commissioned study in 1975 discovered that people’s participation was a prominent factor in the success of a project (as cited in Cornwall, 2006). Robinson and White note that (ibid.) the unprecedented rise in the number of NGOs in the 1980s and 1990s enlarged the significance of participation, as NGOs were perceived as more participatory. The experience of the Karimadom slum transformation and acquiring rights reinforce the role of people’s participation in development process. The implementing agency, COSTFORD, had carried out detailed meetings and consolations regarding the Detailed Project Report (DPR) with the residents of the colony, which spanned across three consecutive days. A monitoring committee was constituted, to oversee the whole process of slum transformation. The initial list of
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beneficiaries for the first stage was drafted with people’s participation. Even after the completion of two phases, the residents were consulted with regard to most of the matters concerning the colony, which means that the culture of participation has been taken forward. Though there was active participation of people in the process, there were conflicts too. The list of the eligible beneficiaries was the most debated issue. The project was aimed at allocating houses to all the households of the colony. The City Development Plan of the Corporation of Thiruvananthapuram had identified that only 613 people lived in shacks in the colony before the transformation project but the primary survey conducted by COSTFORD had found that 632 households lived in the colony out of which 72 households were already provided habitable houses. So the target of the project was to construct flats for 560 households (COSTFORD, 2007). Numerous complaints arose regarding allocation of flats to bachelors who could live with their parents, ex-residents who had already sold their houses, people with own houses outside the colony, and old people who could stay with their children. At the same time, there were complaints regarding not allocating multiple flats to large families with more than one married couple (for instance, a household with the head of the household, his wife, their two married sons and their children). Most of these issues were solved by discussions and deliberations while for some issues, judicial battles had to be fought. Committed Implementing Agency Sensitive to a Social Cause COSTFORD played a crucial role in the success of the slum transformation. The organisation had nearly 30 years of experience and the technical expertise to design the complete slum transformation project, including the design of the houses, and this made the organisation suitable to carry out the mammoth task10 . COSTFORD was in the forefront of the community participation and consultation in the slum transformation process. The Karimadom experience supports the claim rooted in the literature that NGOs can play a significant role in slum development. Keivani and Werner (as cited in Habib, 2009) highlight the opinion of urban experts that NGOs are instrumental in community organisations and mobilisations in slums. Evidences have been drawn from the slum improvement programmes in
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The website of COSTFORD gives a brief overview of its work (http://www.costford.com/History.html).
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Dhaka, Bangladesh. It has also been pointed out that coordination between the implementing NGO and the government is vital for the success of a project. Rahman (as cited in Habib, 2009) indicates that NGOs should focus more on housing the urban poor and the job of government should be to enable the NGOs to prepare and implement projects by putting proper frameworks in place. In the Karimadom project, most of the responsibilities of project design, planning, and construction were entirely entrusted upon COSTFORD while the role of the governments was limited to fund allocation and facilitation. Empowered Women Taking the Lead The empowerment of women is another crucial factor which contributed to the success of the project. Rowlands (as cited in Ndinda, 2009) defines women empowerment as “[a] process whereby women become able to organise themselves to increase their own self-reliance, to assist their independent rights to make choices and to control resources which will assist in challenging and eliminating their own subordination”. Ndinda further explains that empowerment is not to be limited at the individual level, it should transcend to the economic and political domains too. “[I]t includes gaining the confidence and ability to know and negotiate for rights, from the micro to the macro level – that is, from the private (household) to the public sphere of economics and politics (Ndinda, 2009). It is this particular kind of empowerment which assisted the women of Karimadom colony to play a vital role in the slum transformation programme. The women of Karimadom colony came out of the domain of the individual to form collectives seeking economic and political changes in their lives. This can be seen as a part of the culture of political awareness in Kerala discussed above. They mobilised the residents against the dominant drug racket for which the colony was infamous. As a result the racket almost disappeared. Vanita Suraksha Samiti (Women Safety Committee) and Kudumbashree were proactive in the colony. The latter joined hands with COSTFORD and the local urban government to assist in every step of the slum transformation, from creating the list of beneficiaries to solving post-rehabilitation problems such as waste disposal. In a paper written three decades ago, Andrew points out that women’s role in a welfare state is limited to that of workers and clients (Andrew, 1984). However, in the present day, the welfare state has evolved to a position in which women have a significant role in decision making, as evident from the Karimadom experience.
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Efficient Coordination between Different Levels of Government The coordination between city and state governments has been instrumental in ensuring the smooth progress of the project. The Municipal Corporation and the State Government played their parts effectively in acquiring the approval of the project. During the process of consultation with the colony residents, the then Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Mr V. Sivankutty played a major role, by participating in the consultation meetings along with COSTFORD and Municipal Corporation Officials. This implies collective ownership of the project by the city and state governments. The presence of a democratically elected people’s representative added credibility to the consultation meetings. While the institutional base of this coordination is not defined, in this case, it could be attributed to the fact that the same coalition, the Left Democratic Front, ruled the city and the state at the time of the project. In line with Panday and Panday’s (2008) view that “[C]oordination in policy implementation is essential, as it brings together separate agencies to make efforts more compatible in the interests of equity, effectiveness and efficiency”, the Karimadon experience suggests that the different levels of governments involved have to share common vision about and commitment to the project. The fact that the same political coalition was at power at the city and state levels might have made the process smoother. Still, this point does not diminish the significance of the collaboration between the two. Affordable Housing Techniques Lacking the financial resources to construct or buy a decent house is one of the most crucial reasons why most of the poor do not have proper housing. Affordability is a relative term; one has to take into account the class of people under consideration. What is affordable for the Medium Income Groups (MIG) may not be affordable for the Lower Income Groups (LIGs). While the combined housing shortage for MIG and Higher Income Groups (HIG) is 4.38 percent, the figure stands at 39.44 for LIGs and 56.18 for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)11 (Report of the Technical Group on Urban Housing Shortage [2012-17]). Adopting affordable housing techniques
11
KPMG defines EWS as households having an income less than Rs 1.5 lakhs per annum. Figures for LIG and MIS are 1.5-3 and 3-10 lakhs per annum, respectively.
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can be one way to address the huge gap between demand and supply for housing for the Lower and Medium Income Groups. One of the central features of the Karimadom project is the use of affordable housing techniques. Each flat constructed cost only approximately Rs 3.5 lakhs to COSTFORD. This is one of the reasons why COSTFORD could take up and implement this project, while many other private players backed out. It must be noted that here, the term “affordable� has been used with regard to the project implementing agency, not the beneficiary. This is because the houses were provided to the beneficiaries for a nominal cost of Rs 18,000 and Rs 25,000 for Scheduled Castes (SC) and general category beneficiaries, respectively. While affordability of the house is often considered with regard to the customer, the Karimadom project showcases how important is the affordability factor for the implementing agency too. In an environment in which the welfare state faces resentment from policy and market, adopting affordable techniques that can bring down the expenses without affecting the delivery may be one of the best bets. Present and Future Problems in the Colony While the project can be called a success on many fronts, it does not mean that it is free of problems. Solid waste disposal is one of them. Though it has been included in the design of the project by COSTFORD, it has not been implemented until the time of the field work. Kitchen and other solid wastes from the houses are being dumped in an open space nearby the colony. If left unattended, this could become a major health and environmental issue in the near future. The pond that exists within the colony premises is a part of the sewage system of the city. Sewage from parts of the city flows into the pond which is a serious threat to the health of the residents. Before the slum transformation, where the land was lying 60 cm below the road level, the overflow of the pond during monsoon season used to cause skin irritations to the residents. The Detailed Project Report proposes rejuvenation of the pond. Cleaning the pond and protecting its circumference using dry rubble have been recommended (COSTFORD, 2007). Though the land has been raised now and the threat of overflow of the pond has been eliminated, the health problems that the pond could cause still remain. It could breed mosquitoes which could cause and spread diseases. In the future, if the residents would want to sell the houses, the presence of the pond could bring down the commercial value of the houses.
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Conclusion After independence India laid down the ambitious agenda of providing housing to its poor. Unfortunately, it lost track and currently it has reached a stage where it has left the matter to the market. The welfare state intervenes to correct market inequalities but what it is observed in the present day is the withdrawal of the welfare state in that sense. Or, one can argue that the Indian welfare state is evolving, and its nature and priorities have changed with time. Even in that case, one can ask whether the evolution is justifiable before reaching anywhere near the targets set. At the end of the day, a large number of people remain homeless or live in dilapidated housing conditions. This evolution of welfare state is not a phenomenon unique to India. Jensen and Pfau-Effinger (2005) recall that in the 1990s the European welfare states faced new challenges that stemmed from globalisation, increasing rates on unemployment, expansion of unstable forms of employment such as informal, and insecure income. Questions related to legitimacy of welfare state spending originated at the cultural levels added to the pressure. These developments resulted in the welfare states “converging towards a neoliberal type of welfare regime in which the welfare state assumes a more marginal role in relation to the market” (Gilbert, as cited in Jensen, Pfau-Effinger, 2005). Alan Walker (ibid.) puts forward the argument that this neoliberal influence resulted in the transformation of European welfare states in two ways: first, marketisation, deregulation, and privatisation gained strength and second, social justice gave way to economic investment. Consequently, these increased the risk of social exclusion and poverty (ibid.). The developments in India also can be observed to be along similar lines. Another closely associated and significant development is with regard to the emergence of the regulatory state in India. Seidman’s (as cited in Levi-Faur, 2013) understanding of regulatory state is connected with privatisation and outsourcing, which emerged in a large manner in Indian after the economic liberalisation. Adjoining with this point is Majone’s (ibid.) argument that the rise of the regulatory state results in the decline of the welfare state. Viewing India as a state which has both welfare and regulatory characteristics offers a better vantage point. This polymorphic approach put forward by Levi-Faur (2013) states that a welfare state is the “amalgamation of both fiscal and regulatory transfers”. It can be observed that the regulatory aspects of the Indian
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welfare state gained more prominence in the last decades of the twentieth century, especially post-liberalisation. Examining Kerala, one can find a history of effective public housing programmes, although it has not achieved the goal of housing for all. The Karimadom slum transformation project demonstrates that the coexistence of a certain set of factors can create an environment in which urban slum transformation can become a success. A politically educated citizenry in Kerala forces the state to become responsive to their needs, and this puts pressure on the state to deliver. Involving the beneficiaries in the design and implementation of the programme has created a sense of ownership and will to see the project become successful. It also helps in smooth and fast progress of the project, as disagreements are solved before they jeopardise the project. The presence of a socially committed non-profit making organisation as the implementing agency, not a private for-profit player, has ensured that the project does not face unreasonable financial constraints and has the leadership to meet its goals. Participation of educated and empowered women who themselves are the beneficiaries has resulted in reducing the influence of anti-social forces like drugs. The coordination between state and city governments has ensured that red tapes are minimised. Finally, the adoption of affordable housing techniques has reduced the cost of the project and has provided environment friendly and sustainable houses to the beneficiaries. While these may not be a conclusive set of factors and processes required for the success of any slum transformation project, they definitely give a hint about what can possibly help in the process. Addition to these, the consideration of local factors will definitely provide an environment in which a housing scheme can move smoothly towards its goals. The project offers policy learning of different dimensions. The most important of them is with regard to health of the residents. It can be observed that the transformation project has not taken the health of the colony residents seriously. The dirty pond is an example for this argument. It is crucial that any development project must consider how environment can affect the health of the people. It raises a difficult question with regard to the trade off between economic and social advantages of in-situ rehabilitation and the negative health consequences of the same. The second learning is related to the green initiatives. Most of the environment-friendly measures in the Detailed Project Report such as smokeless chulah, rain water harvesting etc, have not been
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implemented until now (Chatterjee, 2013). In an era when climate change is one of most widely discusses topics and environment is at the receiving end of many development projects, health of the environment should not be a second priority.
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Editorial Board Co-ordinator: Shreya Dixit Editors: Abhay Yadav, Abhishek Acharya, Akheela Ashraf, Ashwin Jangalapalli, Gopal Gajbhiye, Krishna Teja Inapudi, Rajasindhura Aravalli, Rajeev Agur, and Yeshwanth Kumar SPPG TISS - HYDERABAD
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