Urban – In urban slum areas the main problem is that many poor families do not have the land pattas without which they cannot apply for benefits under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana. The land pattas are distributed after the city survey process is completed by the Urban Local Bodies. Therefore in towns like Saoli and Sindewahi, Shramik Elgar has organised people to demand for land pattas and brought pressure on the urban local bodies to expedite the process of city survey. The people were helped to apply for land pattas based on which the local bodies started the survey process. In Sindewahi, Mul and Saoli the process of city survey has begun.
In Mul we are following up intensely for housing to the members of the tribal community ‘Korku’ who are living on encroached government land and face eviction.
In the rural areas the demand for housing is very high but the number of houses that are being built under the PMAY is very low. So while the requirements in a village may be fifty or sixty, every year only two or three beneficiaries may be selected for providing homes under the PMAY. Although the ST and SC communities get a larger number of houses every year, the nomadic tribes, OBC, minorities are other Non SC/ST communities rarely get government housing. This is a bone of contention amongst the villagers who feel that all poor should be treated equally and not discriminated against by the government on the basis of caste and tribe.
During the monsoons of 2019 which extended to October 2019 several hundred people lost their houses either partially or completely and because of the election code of conduct there was no response from the government. Although people from all communities lost their homes we find that government support is only forthcoming for tribal and scheduled caste communities for rebuilding houses. We feel that where houses are partially or completely destroyed in a natural calamity the government support should be given without any caste or community bias. To that extent we had started a right to housing campaign which came to a halt because of the lockdown. Some of the villages and mohallas which were badly affected by the rains include Jatlapur, Sindola, Ghodewahi, Sindewahi, and Saoli Tukum. Activists from Shramik Elgar visited all these villages and informed the administration about the extent of the damage and helped the villagers in completing the requirements of the Panchanamas.
