Opinion Re-enfranchise the poor in our cities

Urban India presents countless such heart-wrenching scenes of systemic disenfranchisement of the poor and the marginalised. True,they have the right to vote,like you and me. They exercise it with a greater sense of duty than most of the privileged citizens of India. But there ends their compact with democracy,which,in real terms,means little more to them than a five-yearly ritual of voting. They are unequal to other citizens in every other respect: in the amount of water and power they get to consume,in the size of what pass off as their homes,in their access to education,healthcare,sanitation,transport,open spaces… Dr B.R. Ambedkar had warned us in what was his best speech ever on November 25,1949,before the adoption of the Constitution,that political democracy is incomplete without social and economic democracy. Although we have iconised Ambedkar,we are still far from enshrining his thought in our policies and practices of urban development.

Nowhere is disenfranchisement of the urban poor more pronounced than in the case of waste-pickers and others engaged in various economic activities in the informal sector. According to one estimate,about 1-2 per cent of the urban population in developing countries lives off collecting,processing and recycling municipal solid waste. Our cities and towns would be far dirtier without them,because the formal municipal services are simply not adequate to perform this task. Sadly,waste-pickers,who really ought to be recognised as self-employed social entrepreneurs,are among the poorest and most vulnerable sections of urban society. Since many of them are women and children,they are routinely harassed and exploited. How painful it is to hear stories of police and municipal personnel extorting money from waste-pickers,mobile vegetable sellers,roadside food vendors,etc. Urban poverty can be considerably reduced if only we can somehow stop this daylight robbery.

What follows from the above are three specific imperatives for building better cities in India. Firstly,every aspect of urban development must be guided by how it can improve the lives of the poor and middle classes,and subjected to mandatory social audit. Secondly,following up on some of the pathbreaking legislations passed in recent years—RTI,NREGA,and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill,2009—our Parliament should enact a Constitutional amendment declaring access to clean drinking water,basic healthcare,livable housing,good public transport and pollution-free environment as a fundamental right and mandating the executive (central,state and local self-governments) to take concrete steps for its realisation. It is only when citizens’ basic entitlements are made judiciable that the institutions of democracy will begin to perform their duty better.

Of course,good laws alone do not ensure desired outcomes. A sustained and determined effort,based on cooperative partnership between formal democratic institutions and civil society organisations,is needed to transform legislative intent into tangible results. Here’s a small but inspiring example. The Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat,a trade union of waste-pickers in Pune,has successfully worked with the city municipal corporation towards formal recognition of their role by giving them IDs,increasing their incomes,improving their working conditions,and obtaining medical insurance for them. The partnership has created SWaCH (Solid Waste Collection and Handling),India’s first wholly-owned cooperative of 6,000 self-employed waste collectors,who work with dignity to service over two lakh homes in a sustainable,decentralised and recycling-based waste management model (swachcoop.com). Why doesn’t the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) identify all such successful partnership projects,support them to expand their scope of work,and facilitate their replication across the country?

Next week,in the concluding part of the series: How culture,art,community service and local patriotism can help create better cities.

(Write to: sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com )