Children of a lesser god

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru may be India’s startup capital and home to many dollar millionaires, but for the city’s urban poor every day is an uphill struggle. They live in highly unhygienic slums, where even basic amenities like toilets or regular disposal of garbage is a luxury. For the government and political leaders, they don’t exist and hardly any schemes are formulated to uplift their living conditions. Hameed Ashraf reports.

While the city is rapidly developing and expanding, for the underpriviledged every day is a fight for survival. Poor urban residents in the adjoining areas of Nayandahalli and Gangondanahalli have been living in the slums for generations and experiencing very slow-paced upward mobility.

In one of the slums, sandwiched between a busy railway line and a stormwater drain lives Pramod, 45, and his wife Sumati. The couple are daily wage workers earning around Rs 12000 a month, while their expense on children and groceries comes up to a minimum of Rs 11000 a month. They are neck deep in debt, and have pinned hopes on their children.

Gangondanahalli Residents Welfare Association General Secretary Neymathulla Shariff said, “Around 70% of the families in slums live in debt and are trapped in their slums with nowhere to go.”

Surprisingly, many slum dwellers like Pramod enjoy direct-to-home satellite television, but basic amenities like toilets are still a far cry for many. Most of them have smartphones, but lack proper knowledge on how to use it for their benefit.

There are many streets where the garbage has been lying for weeks. A couple of years ago an open drain was covered following complaints by residents, but the stench remains.

Some residents said that Ministers and MLAs of the wards such as V Somanna and M Krishnappa have been very generous to them. “We do not support any particular political party. Any minister who supports us will get our support,” said Rajshekhar, who runs a mobile repair shop.

Stark poverty in a neglected part of the city may perhaps be easier for everyone to be blind to. But when it’s glaring and right next door, it is not that difficult to know how local politicians and government officials get by.

“I have not voted for many years,” said a 55-year old slum-dweller in Nayandahalli. “What is the use? If the authorities needed our votes, they would have come to us. Nobody comes here,” he said. The people here are mainly dependent on daily wages. The residents said that during the elections, some of them are paid to cast their votes and some are paid not to vote at all.

Mateen Ahmed works at a tea stall. He feels that lack of education is the main cause for lack of opportunities for the poor in Bengaluru. “The government ignores us because we are not educated,” he said.

Neymathulla Shariff often organises many educational awareness programmes for the residents. “Education broadens our mind and skills give us strength to survive,” he said. He also started tailoring classes for the local women in collaboration with other associations.

Gradually the residents are focusing on the importance of education and are trying to get their children educated with the best schools they can afford. “As my parents were poor, I took up the responsibility of the family and started working as a labourer at a very young age. My father had done the same thing too,” said Mujeeb Pasha. “But I want my children to study and lead a better life. Education is needed as the world is changing very fast,” he added.

On the other hand there are some amongst the poor who believe that the government has ignored the poor because they are busy pleasing the rich. “Government supports them because of money. That is what we don’t have,” said Shanta, who works as a maid. “The government thinks we can’t question them. If anyone questions, they’ll just pay them to keep quiet,” she added.

Co-founder of Bangalore-based not-forprofit Janaagraha, Ramesh Ramanathan, feels that the problem is with the way government institutions are designed, where there’s no single agency looking into the needs of the urban poor.

While the city and state’s decision-makers are hosting investor meets and having debates at the Vidhana Soudha, very little is being done for the underprivileged. It is difficult to ascertain where Bengaluru’s poor actually fit in, in this fast-changing city?