The Times of India                  16.11.2010

Maha slum definition flawed: Panel report

 MUMBAI: An expert committee of the Union housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry has pointed out in a report how some major states, including Maharashtra, have "grossly underestimated their slum population" by not using proper parameters.

The report, submitted to the ministry recently, said Maharashtra and the other states did not use a comprehensive definition for a squatter and some cases did not consider "non-notified slums where there was a land dispute" while mapping the growth of squatters. "As a consequence, there was gross underestimation of the state's and Mumbai's slum population," the report said.

The ministry had appointed the committee to come up with accurate slum data for better implementation of Rajiv Awas Yojana, which aims to make India slum-free. The committee report said there was no clear definition of "slums" in the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance & Redevelopment) Act, 1971. Section (2) of the act defines a "slum area" as "any area that is a source of danger to the health, safety and convenience of the public of that area, or by reason of the area having inadequate or no basic amenities, or being insanitary, squalid, overcrowded or otherwise". Other factors such as the narrowness of lanes, lack of light, sanitation and ventilation, overcrowding and dilapidation are also taken into account.

The report said "there was a significant difference in the definition of slums used internationally and in states of India". After studying various alternatives and keeping in mind the need to use a definition suitable for public policy purposes, the panel decided to adopt the definition used by National Sample Survey Organization as its working concept.

NSSO defines a slum as "a compact settlement of at least 20 households with a collection of poorly built tenements, mostly of temporary nature, crowded together usually with inadequate sanitary and drinking water facilities in unhygienic conditions".

The panel found that by applying the NSSO definition, Mumbai's slum population was 6.5 million in the 2001 census. Under the new methodology of NSSO, it was estimated at 6.8 million. The corresponding figure for next year was estimated at 8.68 million.