"Ever since we talked about moving from the railway tracks into our new homes, we also talked about running our own consumer cooperative. We had been cheated long enough. Now we wanted our own store run by ourselves and for ourselves." RSDF leader.
Communities that lived along the railway tracks were always forced to pay high prices to access the most basic of services such as water, electricity, sanitation and ration cards. Therefore, in 2000, when they - organised as members of the Railway Slum Dwellers Federation - moved into their new homes at various locations across the city of Mumbai, one of their primary concerns was to run their own consumer cooperatives.
In 2001, four ration shops were set up - in Mankhurd transit camp, Mankhurd permanent buildings, Wadala transit camp and Turbe Mandala transit camp. An eleven-member team comprising 5 men and 5 women was attached to each store to check accounts and maintain transparency. A Mahila Milan account was opened under the shop's name and any profit generated was put into the community's collective pool.
What is special about this initiative were that these stores are run completely by women.
The ration shops focused on making sure that prices were reasonable, that distribution was fair, that quality would always be high and that the store would run on a no-profit, no-loss basis. Having women leading this business venture produced many benefits. For instance, it ensured them employment close to their homes. Moreover, it also proved to be an ideal way to mobilise women to participate in the public activities of their communities. On one occasion, Mahila Milan negotiated to get rations delivered directly to their store so that they could pay less than wholesale retail prices. Consequently, such leadership positions made them centrally responsible for important administrative, managerial and financial resources in the area.
Although the ration shops have been running for some time now, the official registration process has taken longer to come through. While communities organise to fulfil the various regulations that have been laid out by the Mumbai Central Cooperative Bank, SPARC has been supporting these shops. For example, leaders have been holding regular meetings to explain how housing societies become member of this consumer cooperative, how all individual members become shareholders, how much share capital needs to be raised, what resolutions need to be passed about dividends and how a central committee and a Chairman need to be elected. It is expected that all cooperatives will be finally registered by the end of August 2003.
For the Alliance, this is a precedent setting process because it represents how poor communities that have consistently been dependent on middle men or local politicians to access resources have now successfully managed to collectively own, share and distribute these very same resources. It is also important because it reveals how groups of the urban poor become members of larger formal arrangements.
This wealth of experience will form the backbone for other communities in the city and other parts of the country to undertake similar activities once they have been resettled.
Leaders from the across the country meet for the National Convention
A three-day national convention that was held from 13-15 September 2003 in Mankhurd Building. The federation planning committee had been working hard to plan the programme.
On the first day, there was a Community-Sanitation meeting. The mayor of Mumbai was the Chief Guest at this event, and other guests included Deputy Municipal Commissioners as well as bureaucrats that had helped the Alliance in accessing sanitation. A large part of the morning centred around community leaders presenting toilet reports - or how the new community toilets built in their settlements were functioning. One of the leaders talked about how revenues from the community to manage and maintain the toilet were so high that the CBO had bought a TV for the toilet! Many leaders also talked about the problems they had experienced while trying to organise CBOs and build toilets. Other leaders also talked about how difficult it had been to actually construct toilets, and political differences had often resulted in fights. The stories of the women contractors showed how the confidence and esteem they got from building toilets had changed their lives. Afterwards, officers who heard some of the complaints such as inadequate water and sewerage connections and delays in work orders, discussed how they could help communities and their CBOs speed up the process and access toilets.
The second day was attended by over 15,000 people from different parts of the city and country. There was an air of excitement - and some amazement - at the strength of the crowd and the purpose of the gathering. Mahila Milan leaders from various areas who were in charge of maintaining security, cooking and distributing food and welcoming people were dressed in red sari-uniforms. Jockin, the NSDF President, talked about how this was a convention for slum dwellers to take stock of their situation, the NSDF to assess its work, and for everyone to participate in planning for the future and changing the face of Mumbai and the country.
The Police Commissioner of Pune was the Chief Guest of this event. Recently, he initiated a programme where slum dwellers would form neighbourhood watch committees in their localities and be linked to a constable from the Pune police. In response, the NSDF and Mahila Milan decided to felicitate him at their most important annual event.
The final day of the convention saw different city representatives presenting their work in the past year. There were leaders from all 50 cities where the federation and Mahila Milan work. Mr. Nehrudasan, who is first of the five national NSDF presidents to be elected, presided over this event. The purpose of this morning was for communities to share their experiences, highlight their work on sanitation and loan-delivery, and to discuss their plans for the next 6 months. After the city reports, federation leaders from different areas sat in smaller groups sharing their experiences and planning exchanges.
Mahila Milan and the Federation keep expanding
Dharavi, Mumbai: On 2nd July 2003, the Dharavi Vikas Samiti, the community center of the Dharavi Slum Dwellers Federation, shifted office. It will now be located in the apartment building Rajiv-Indira which has been constructed by the Alliance of SPARC, NSDF and Mahila Milan.
Community leaders from across Mumbai attended this event. There were representatives from centres in Byculla, Mankhurd, Kanjur Marg, Chembur, Govandi, Goregaon, Borivali, Wadala, Sewri and Antop Hill. Police Officer Mr. Vilas Gangavane was the Chief Guest.
Arani and Pollur, Tiruvannamalai district: New Area Resource Centres was inaugarated in Arani and Pollur in the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu by the Tamil Nadu Slum Dwellers Mahila Milan. In the picture on the right, Arani Mahila Milan leader Smt. Sampathrani is holding an executive committee meeting in the new office.
Theni, Tamil Nadu: In March 2003, Federation and Mahila Milan leaders of Makkilarpatti slum of Theni, Tamil Nadu, opened a new Area Resource Center for their members. As part of the center's first event, a function was held to celebrate International Women's Day as well as hand out income-generation loans to new members.
Strengthening Partnerships with Municipalities: Constructing Toilets in Pondicherry
In March 2002, the Pondicherry state government initiated a programme to provide subsidies of Rs. 1500 for individual toilet construction in slums. Making the most of this opportunity, the Pondicherry Slum Dwellers Federation (PSDF) asked the NSDF to issue a loan to its members to cover the rest of the cost of the toilet. In April 2002, the NSDF approved a loan of Rs. 138,000 for 46 members of the PSDF. This loan was distributed in 4 slums of Suthkeny, Koonichampet, Thirukanur and Kudi Iruppupai.
The toilets cost Rs. 3200 each. Although the government had budgeted Rs. 3000 per seat, the PSDF found that the wooden doors used were of poor quality and replaced them with more expensive although more sturdy tin doors. Members have agreed to pay back their loan in the next 10 months in equal installments.
Various meetings were held to explain the scheme. At a meeting held in May 2003 in Suthkeny slum, where 12 toilets are being built, Mahila Milan office Secretary Smt. Lathamageshwari and NSDF State Convenor Mr. Mohan Sundaram explained the low cost toilet project to members. There was a large celebration and Sri Veth Prakash, I.A.S officer, distributed the NSDF loan along with the government subsidy. Mr.Chand Sultan, Villiyanur Development Officer issued the work order.
In another slum, Villiyanur Development Authority Smt. Santha Sulthana distributed the work order to build individual toilets and once the construction work began she inaugarated the first completed toilet. In this area, all toilet construction materials were bought wholesale by the Pondicherry Federation to minimise costs.
In Andiar Pallayam, a third slum with this programme, a large celebration was held to simultaneously celebrate the one year anniversary of the children's center, the functioning of the Mahila Milan office and the commencement of the toilet programme. All the children participated in a fancy dress competition and Sri. Neela Gangadharan, M.L.A, congratulated the winners.
For the Alliance, this partnership is part of a larger strategy where poor communities, together with their city municipalities, set local development goals. And it is towards this very purpose of collecting information to begin negotiations with local authorities that, in July 2003, the PSDF undertook comprehensive slum surveys for 14,000 households living in 48 areas . These dialogues and targets will eventually feed into a UNDP intiative known as the Millenium Development Goals.
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RESETTLEMENT AND REHABILITATION
Shifting 35,000 families for the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP)
The Alliance has just been awarded our largest resettlement and rehabilitation contract to date! 35,000 families that live along the pavement and in slums are to be resettled in permanent apartment buildings in various parts of Mumbai. This is part of the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project in which the city plans to construct and widen about 60 roads all across Mumbai in order to improve road transportation networks. In fact, this resettlement is based on the city's previous large-scale resettlement project - the Mumbai Urban Transportation Project (MUTP). The MUTP involved the expansion of rail networks throughout the city. Initiated by the Railways (a Central government body) it affected approximately 20,000 households. The Alliance was given the contract to conduct baseline socio-economic surveys, prepare resettlement implementation plans and resettle and rehabilitate these families. To date, some 12,000 families have already been resettled without any force.
The MUIP is a joint venture between the state of Maharashtra, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) to expand the road networks in Mumbai. It is expected that this project will cost about 2000 crores of rupees - 1000 crores coming from MMRDA, 300 crores from the MMC and 700 crores from the Government Of Maharashtra - and improve about 60 roads, mainly in the suburbs and extended suburbs of the city.
It is estimated that about 35,000 poor families who mostly live along pavements will be affected by MUIP. These families are to be provided with an alternate accommodation of 225 sq. ft. carpet area under section 3.11 of the SRA. The Alliance has been asked to survey and resettle all these families.
Resettlement of the Indira Nagar slum dwellers as part of the Mumbai Urban Transportation Project
Since May 2003, the Alliance has been involved in relocating 436 households that live in the Indira Nagar slum in the Wadala-Koliwada area. This is where the MMRDA plans to construct a 120-foot road, which will link the Wadala truck terminal to the Koliwada station. They have been resettled in 225 sq. ft. apartments in Wadala itself.
Although many of the residents have been living in this area for the past 40 years, this project has had corrupt history, where collectors and councillors who were involved in the resettlement, created fictitious voting lists to prove eligibility. To solve this problem the federation applied an i
nnovative strategy - popularly called Jockin's Formula 14. This formula evolved out of the airport slum rehabilitation project and referred to the 14 documents such as postal communication, police reports and birth certificates that the housing department had said could be used as claims to demonstrate people's residence.
Eventually, 112 households that could not prove their eligibility, even after the Formula 14 strategy, were temporarily given land by the Maharashtra government in Pratiksha Nagar, which is close to Indira Nagar slum.
Exploring New Partnerships: Pune Police and Mahila Milan
"We patrol the slums at night. We have no weapons other than our Police ID cards." Kamal Pathue, Mahila Milan leader, Paud Phata slum, Pune.
As part of a brnd new initiative in Pune, Zopadpatthi Police Sahayaks, or teams of 7 women and 3 men from slum areas, have been created. These committees will be involved in solving local disputes and other minor problems with the assistance of a police constable.
In fact, for the past few months, the Police Commissioner had been having discussions with the federation about the problems that slum dwellers faced with the police. As part of a series of efforts for greater police-citizen interaction, Mr. Roy, after discussing the issue with Jockin, the President of the NSDF, decided to initiate this programme in which the central idea was that the police should come to the doorsteps of slum dwellers rather than slum dwellers having to go to the police chowki.
On the 9th of July, about 1500 people gathered together at the Don Bosco High School, most of them women -- some 200 of them from Mumbai and the rest from Pune -- at a grand function where the Police Commissioner and the Municipal Commissioner launched this concept. As a token, slum dwellers from about 5 slums were issued badges as police sahayaks and introduced to designated police officials. During the ceremony the Police Commissioner released a small booklet of the concept of police sahayaks and police-slum community policing. Later, he lit a candle, from which a number of his senior officers lit their candles, and in turn, from which the people present, lit their candles. This was a wonderful sight, as the stage and the auditorium were bathed in candlelight. This was to symbolise a new partnership between a community of the poor and the police, who are often seen as dreaded, corrupt and high handed authorities by ordinary people.
Mahila Milan members across the city have been chosen to be part of these committees. Where these women might have performed similar roles in the past, now there is a difference. "The Pune police project has given us legitimacy. We solved local disputes earlier as well, but very often, we would be questioned: what right do you have to interfere? Now, we just show our Police ID cards. This is our official tag. People take us seriously today, they are even afraid,” says Savita Gorware, Mahila Milan member on a police committee. Other Mahila Milan leaders also felt that the committees had given them confidence. Earlier they used to be scared to go out of their house after 8 p.m. and now they go for patrols at 11 p.m. They even say that the young boys in their area, who used to hang outside till midnight teasing people that passed by, have started going home by 10 p.m.
Gorware narrates a story of the Police Committee's recent success in resolving local disputes. "Last week, a woman came to us. She had been having serious fights with her mother-in-law. Her confidence was low and she was despondent about her family situation. We spoke to her, counselled her about the fact that she must seek to establish her independence and take up a job, and then we went to speak to her mother-in-law and husband. We managed to convince the husband to move out of his mother's house, but what came as a surprise was the fact that he took a new place at midnight the same day, and moved there immediately with his wife," says Gorware excitedly.
Another example of the disputes the committees solves is given by Kamal Pathue. She explained, "One of our women w
ho works as a domestic servant in a nearby locality came to us with a problem. The owners of the house, which she used to clean regularly had not paid her for 6 months and were refusing to do so. When she went to their place to complain, the police were called and the lady was blamed for creating havoc at their residence. At the police station they lodged a FIR and wanted the lady to be arrested. The lady called the police committee for help. On speaking to the police and explaining the situation to them, the police committee warned the owners to pay up. The police even cancelled the FIR and made sure that the lady got her entire pay. If we had gone to them without the committee, this would have never happened. Now not just the rich people have power, we do too."
The significance of what the Police Authorities of Pune have done lies in the fact that they have directly reached out to the urban poor. While mohalla committees and forms of community policing can be found in other cities, in most cases, the members are middle class or 'respectable citizens', not the poor themselves. About 40% of the population of Pune live in about 503 slums, and this concept is going to be extended to 235 slums in the city. We are sure that it will be a resounding success.
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SLUM DWELLERS INTERNATIONAL
The Alliance is part of the international networkd SDI ( Shack Dwellers International) which helps create, support, strengthen and sustain peer federations across the cities in Asia and Africa and ensures that their voices are heard.
Letter from Kenya
On 27th November 03 the Kenyan alliance of Muungano and Pamoja Trust set up their own Fund, Akina MAshinani. Below is a letter that Joel Bolnick, one of the two convenors of Slum Dwellers International, wrote about this event.
"One has to go back to March 1991 and to the Sharpeville commemorations at the very first Federation meeting in South Africa, to recall an African Federation gathering as poignant, as moving as this morning's launch of Akiba Mashinani in Nairobi Kenya.
The event was a high intensity replication of the usual Federation gathering. Busload after busload of slumdwellers arrived at Kasarani Gymnasium in downtown Nairobi, until there were thousands of poor people, mainly women, sitting patiently for hours as the hall filled up and the programme participants got their act together. They were entertained by enthusiastic community cultural events and by the usual barrage of exhortations, platitudes and slogans from the masters of ceremony. Then they sat patiently through a long list of speeches from Ministers, dignitaries and international guests.
And yet there was a spine tingling poignancy to the proceedings. The thousands of slumdwellers in the audience were celebrating the launch of their very own movement. This was a kind of coming out celebration for Kenya's urban poor. As one of the banners said, the launch of Akiba Mashinani meant that voice and visibility was at long last being given to one of the most viciously exploited and marginalised urban poor classes in Africa. After decades of total insecurity, characterised by violent evictions and other aggressive anti poor practises by the State, the people of the slums of Nairobi and other Kenyan towns had gathered in their thousands to launch their own organisation,and to invite the recently elected leaders of the country to work with them to eradicate homelessness, landlessness and poverty. Kenya's dispossessed had come together to declare their intention to transform the face of Nairobi, one of Africa's most troubled but dynamic cities.
Shack Dwellers from South Africa and Uganda were there to help in the preparation of the launch and the sharing of the festivities. After two days of intense engagement they returned to their homes, infused and energised by the optimism, confidence and emerging power of their Kenyan comrades. They had been empowered by the knowledge that the Kenyans had not only come of age, but were aflame with a self confidence and an excitement that was going to simultaneously challenge and enhance their self-same struggles back home.
The patience and persistence of Pamoja Trust and hundreds of community leaders has at last paid handsome dividends. Nairobi's urban poor have at last got a real platform on which to build, an authentic voice that seeks engagement with formal institutions committed to change and that reaches out to similar communities in other parts of Africa and the globe in order to learn and to teach, in order to give and receive, and to build a movement that has the potential to bring real change to the cities of the South; a change to the built environments and a change to the current power relations that create the conditions for their extreme inequality."