Employment of those shifted from urban slums, education of their children, health, and financial aspects are hardly finding any place in the housing schemes in the urban areas, opine speakers at the workshop on ‘Rehabilitation and resettlement plans in the city'.
The workshop was organised by the Association for Regional Tribal Development (Urban Wing).
The speakers felt that while any development project in the plain and Agency areas was taking care of rehabilitation, the same was not happening in cities where relocation was taking place.
In the urban areas only ‘Property rights of slum-dwellers' was talked about. Even in housing under the JNNURM and the RAY, issues consequent to the shifting of slum-dwellers were not given importance.
Speakers said those who shifted after relocation of Sevanagar and Omkarnagar were facing several problems. There were no plans for accommodating migrant workers and the shelterless.
Any community should be shifted only after taking the residents into confidence and giving them sufficient time.
The meeting demanded that 10 per cent allotment to economically weaker sections be implemented in VUDA layouts.
CPI(M) city secretary B. Ganga Rao, K. Padma of Mahila Chetana, Venkateswarlu of IFTU, and ARTD secretary Pragada Vasu spoke. Members of ‘Chatri', an NGO from Hyderabad, and 60 women from the affected slums participated in the workshop held on Wednesday and Thursday at public library.
