While candidates of all major political parties have been busy campaigning actively in all segments of East Delhi, slum dwellers living behind the group housing societies of I.P. Extension have been left neglected.
Residents of Nehru Camp unanimously expressed their displeasure over being ignored by AAP candidate Rajmohan Gandhi, sitting Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit and BJP’s Maheish Girri during the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
According to Dharam Singh, who has been residing in the slums over the past 20 years, there is utter frustration among the inhabitants because politicians have failed to address civic issues like sanitation and water.
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“Why should we vote for any party when candidates do not have any clear-cut policy to provide us basic facilities like toilet and drains. The Rajiv Awas Yojana is only on paper and lack of implementation demonstrates the nonchalance of politicians towards our plight.”
He said due to lack of toilet facility in the slums, four persons recently became victims of a hit-and-run case on the highway.
One of them, Savita,who works at Modern School, said she was knocked down by a speeding bike last week while she was crossing NH-24 to relieve herself.
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“The bike could have easily killed me. Luckily, I was accompanied by my daughter, who rushed me to a hospital. I do not have any expectations from our politicians who promise us the moon, but after getting power they fail to even recognise us.”
“Since we constitute only a miniscule number of votes, we are being ignored by politicians,” said Savita.
Another resident Mohammad Naseem said, “Politicians need to have common sense. On the one hand, Delhi has witnessed impressive development like flyovers and metro. Then there are people like us who are living on the streets completely neglected by our netas. We are also Indians and have not come from some other planet.”