Call to ensure Constitutional right to dignified housing for migrant workers

National Alliance of People’s Movement’s (NAPM’s) solidarity statement in favour of the migrant labourers of Ahmedabad demanding basic living facilities:

***

The past year has exposed the dire situation of migrant workers across India, who continue to work in precarious conditions. On 15th February, 2021, almost 1000 migrant labourers, members of the labour union Majur Adhikar Manch, gathered in Ahmedabad in front of the District Collector’s office, to submit a memorandum asking for immediate action to provide them with dignified housing in the city. The workers had been denied permission to hold the rally, and many were detained by the police in an absurd use of violence by lathi charging a peaceful gathering.
The protestors are seasonal and permanent migrant labourers, many of whom belong to Adivasi, NT, DNT, Dalit and OBC communities from Gujarat and from West Madhya Pradesh and South Rajasthan, who come to Ahmedabad to find work through labour-nakkas. Entire families frequently undertake construction work in a state where a significant amount of the budget is spent on ‘urban development’ and only very little on social security schemes. They also find casual labour, and some are petty vendors. The irregular and unpredictable nature of the work available provides only a minimal income per month for each family, insufficient to cover rent as well as other daily living necessities.

At a conservative estimate based on a study undertaken by Majur Adhikar Manch, there are more than 2300 families of migrant labourers living in 40 squatter settlements in Ahmedabad, providing cheap labour for the needs of the city. These settlements are located on empty plots of land, some of them belonging to private persons, some to the government, including Railways and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). The settlements have not been recognized as registered slums, in spite of the fact that they are older than a decade, some even two, and in spite of repeated demands from the people. As a result, the AMC is not compelled to ensure basic living facilities, such as running water and electricity. This adds to the already existing health risks, insecurity and risk of accidents. The settlements are periodically demolished, leaving the inhabitants with no living alternative.
Shelters (rain baseras) in the city do not provide accommodation for families and most of the inhabitants of these settlements, especially the many who belong to Adivasi communities, migrated to the city as families. Over the years, multiple representations have been made to the concerned authorities. From 2016 to 2018, letters submitted to the Railways demanded a halt to evictions of construction workers in various bastis in the city. As early as 2012, letters began to be addressed to the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner and other concerned authorities, additionally asking for the enumeration of households, an assessment of the needs of seasonal and permanent migrant labourers and of the gap between these and the services provided by the rain baseras. There have been multiple eviction cases as well, some in January 2020, immediately before the beginning of the pandemic, which left migrant workers in a state of abject vulnerability and risk.
The right to shelter is a constitutional right, that the state cannot wash its hands of, leaving thousands of people essential to the functioning and wellbeing of the city destitute and living under constant threat of evictions and insecurity.
National Alliance of People’s Movements joins the migrant labourers demanding through the labour union, Majur Adhikar Manch, that:
(i) the over 40 slums be registered and notified through due process.
(ii) appropriate housing, with basic public facilities such as running and drinking water, sanitation, electricity and paved roads be provided for the inhabitants of these settlements.
(iii) no eviction be undertaken without prior just rehabilitation.
(iv) in-situ, fair rehabilitation of all inhabitants is undertaken before any eviction, and the cut-off date for eligibility for rehabilitation is extended to 31st December 2018.
(v) family shelters be constructed for those not eligible for rehabilitation, under the Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) scheme, responding to the actual needs of the migrant labourers.
(vi) a mechanism is set up within AMC, to study the housing needs and the gap and enable the provision of dignified housing to migrant labourers to the city.
We stand firm in our conviction that the right to protest and demand basic rights and entitlements where these are not provided cannot be answered with police violence. As various High Courts and the Supreme Court stated in multiple instances, the state has the constitutional duty to provide shelter, thereby making the right to life meaningful, and where this does not take place, it is our duty as civil society and concerned citizens to support those affected by the callousness of the state to make their voices heard and demand their due.

Comments

India's chemical industry: The missing piece of Atmanirbhar Bharat

By N.S. Venkataraman* Rarely a day passes without the Prime Minister or a cabinet minister speaking about the importance of Atmanirbhar Bharat . The Start-up India scheme is a pillar in promoting this vision, and considerable enthusiasm has been reported in promoting start-up projects across the country. While these developments are positive, Atmanirbhar Bharat does not seem to have made significant progress within the Indian chemical industry . This is a matter of high concern that needs urgent and dispassionate analysis.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Remembering a remarkable rebel: Personal recollections of Comrade Himmat Shah

By Rajiv Shah I first came in contact with Himmat Shah in the second half of the 1970s during one of my routine visits to Ahmedabad , my maternal hometown. I do not recall the exact year, but at that time I was working in Delhi with the CPI -owned People’s Publishing House (PPH) as its assistant editor, editing books and writing occasional articles for small periodicals. Himmatbhai — as I would call him — worked at the People’s Book House (PBH), the CPI’s bookshop on Relief Road in Ahmedabad.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

As 2024 draws nearer, threatening signs appear of more destructive wars

By Bharat Dogra The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption of social and economic life that countless people have not yet recovered from its many-sided adverse impacts. In the next two years there were outbreaks of two very high-risk wars which have worldwide implications including escalation into much wider conflicts. In addition there were highly threatening signs of increasing possibility of other very destructive wars. As the year 2023 appears to be headed for ending on a very grim note, there are apprehensions about what the next year 2024 may bring, and there are several kinds of fears. However to come back to the year 2020 first, the pandemic harmed and threatened a very large number of people. No less harmful was the fear epidemic, the epidemic of increasing mental stress and the cruel disruption of the life and livelihoods particularly among the weaker s...

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Farewell to Robin Smith, England’s Lionhearted Warrior Against Pace

By Harsh Thakor* Robin Smith, who has died at the age of 62, was among the most adept and convincing players of fast bowling during an era when English cricket was in decline and pace bowling was at its most lethal. Unwavering against the tormenting West Indies pace attack or the relentless Australians, Smith epitomised courage and stroke-making prowess. His trademark shot, an immensely powerful square cut, made him a scourge of opponents. Wearing a blue England helmet without a visor or grille, he relished pulling, hooking and cutting the quicks.

Jallianwala: Dark room documents reveal multi-religious, multi-caste martyrdom

By Shamsul Islam* Today India has turned into a grazing field for all kinds of religious bigots. The RSS/BJP rulers are openly declaring their commitment to turn India into a Hindu state, where Muslims and Christians have no place, and Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism can survive only as sects of Hinduism. However, it this was the scenario 100 years back when the British rulers perpetrated one of the worst massacres in the modern history -- the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. People of India shackled by the most powerful imperialist power of the world, Britain, presented a heroic united resistance. It is not hearsay but proved by contemporary official, mostly British documents. These amazing documents were part of British archives which became National Archives of India after Independence. As a pleasant surprise these documents were made public to mark the 75th commemoration of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as part of an exhibition titled, 'Archives and Jallianwala Bagh: A Saga of ...

Search This Blog