Lack of sleep is a health disorder that is increasingly a concern among upwardly mobile sections of society. Do the urban poor too suffer from this problem?
To evaluate the prevalence and impact of the problem, the State government has planned to conduct a study in north Chennai. The study will cover 500 persons, living in tenements of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board. Preliminary work for the study has begun and it is expected that the study will go on for 18 months, sources say.
The study will be carried out as part of the State government’s memorandum of understanding with the Abdul Latif Jameel – Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US. The J-PAL is a network of development economists and social scientists.
As the government has been implementing a number of welfare schemes for the urban poor, its interest in the study is two-fold. One is welfare and poverty alleviation, and the other, health.
Between 2011 and 2016, the government distributed electric table fans along with mixies and wet grinders free of cost to all family card holders including the urban poor. The study may throw light on the validity of such schemes. Also, it will examine whether there are conditions that prevent the poor from having enough sleep, such as noise or other forms of pollution. “When people sleep well, their cognition and ability to earn improve,” a senior official says, adding that the findings of the proposed study are expected to help sharpen the kind of focus that the government needs to have on the urban poor.
Ongoing effort
In the last three years, the government has commissioned 15 studies to the JPAL to evaluate the impact of its schemes in the areas of school education, health and rural sanitation. Seven of the studies have been completed and, shortly, their findings are expected to be made public. Primary school education in northern districts of the State; engaging women to improve breastfeeding outcomes and the promotion of rural latrines are among the completed studies.
