TISS recommends intervention in health & sanitation,waste management The Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) will invest over Rs 30 lakh under the first phase of the development plan for Mazgaon and its people. The ship-building company had taken a field study of the area around MDL. Following the study,Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) recommended field-level intervention in health,sanitation and waste management in public places in Mazgaon. The baseline survey included 500 respondents187 females and 313 males living in temporary households with 75 per cent of the survey group living on rent. Around 58.2 per cent have lived in the area for 10 to 30 years. These houses are illegal structures. Its surprising that people,who were first illegal colonisers of the land,have become owners. We also found that a household consists of four people on an average,the maximum number being 12. The appalling conditions the people live in show that its livelihood and not how they live,that is predominant need of the people, says the study. As many as 99.4 per cent of the respondents are migrants,with Uttar Pradesh contributing the most- 33.4 per cent- followed by West Bengal. Whats most striking is that there is a steady stream of people who come from the hinterland of Maharashtra (28.2 per cent),which does not speak very highly of the state. While 92.8 per cent are not under any social security scheme,over half the population is illiterate,implying that they are mostly engaged in low paid manual,unskilled work with only 3 per cent having permanent jobs, said professor SK Bhowmik,dean of School of Management & Labour Studies,which conducted the study. Drinking water facilities present a murky picture with almost 75 per cent without any water connection at home. While 70.4 per cent of the people pay for the water they use,the respondents do not have sanitation facility attached to their houses. Acting on our suggestions,MDL has given Rs 8 lakh to Doorstep School which works to take children to the nearest school. Around Rs 2.5 lakh has been given to Asha Sadan which is an after care home for girls and is governed by Maharashtra State Womens Council, he said. TISS has proposed that financial help must be given to Asha Sadan for them to employ competent teachers for girls and create employment opportunities as part of their rehabilitation process. MDL has also given Rs 21 lakh to the Labour Education and Research Network (LEARN),an NGO,to be invested in areas like waste management,health and skill development. This is the first year of implementation of the proposals. Investment and work will continue in the subsequent years too, added Bhowmik.
