Slum-dwellers have opposed any eviction in the light of talk doing the rounds on development of capital and mini capitals.
A city-level advisory committee meeting of Campaign for Housing and Tenurial Rights (CHATRI) and Monfort Social Institute here on Thursday said the fear arose as all the slums were located in revenue lands and various committees visited lands on the periphery.
Taking stock of the stand of political parties vis-à-vis slum-dwellers in the elections, speakers at the meeting said all of them promised to work for their uplift but refused to give a written commitment. Only Aam Aadmi Party’s Lok Sabha nominee Kuna Ramam had given a written commitment and agreed to work with them irrespective of the electoral outcome.
CHATRI convener Pragada Vasu said the slum dwellers have demanded passage of A P Slum Dwellers Property Rights Act and former chief minister and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu who promised it during the campaign should keep it.
He demanded that the BJP government should clarify whether the ambitious RAY would be implemented irrespective of the nomenclature. Already guidelines have been worked out and a pilot project approved for Suryatejanagar in the city with a cost of Rs.12 crore. The governments should clarify whether the ongoing slum improvement programmes would continue and issue clear-cut guidelines.
Prameela, president of Sadguru Sainathnagar Colony in Ward 5 said the residents were not lured by the money offered during the recent elections when leaders of the political parties visited them they reminded them of their commitments.
Sankar of Fishermen Youth Welfare Association said five fishermen villages at Gangavaram had decided to boycott polling and participated only after an assurance on their demands from political parties.
Social activist Raman Prasad Eemani accused political parties of going back on their promises after elections. Maria Soosai of MSI wanted a board to be set up for unorganised workers on the lines of the one for construction sector.
