Topic: slum

The irony couldn't be starker: a nation aspiring to stand tall on the world stage is choosing to hide its poverty and inequality instead of addressing them head-on.

An independent UN human rights expert on Monday has voiced concern over an Indian Supreme Court order to evict up to 250,000 people living in shacks along railway tracks in the capital, Delhi, warning that such a move could violate India's obligations under many international rights treaties.

"The authorities need to rehabilitate us properly or else allow us to keep living here," Amna Khatun, 19 who lost her shelter said.

In August 2020, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India ordered removal of 48000 slum dwellings that were around a 140-km railway track in Delhi without providing for any rehabilitation. A civil rights collective Public Bolti released a statement responding to the order. The statement is reproduced below.

Their biggest victory so far has been a fixing of the wages. Under the Sanghatana, which has 5,000 members, there are six separate groups – the domestic workers, the largest faction with 2,000 members, has fixed Rs 2,000 as monthly wages for a home with a family of four. The home based workers group has about 1,500 members followed by garment workers, vendors, rag pickers and those who prepare and sell packed lunches.