Paying for toilets in a Slum/Resettlement area

I went to the JJ Resettlement colony in Bawana day before yesterday and here's something that I was just working out... may be you would like to read this....
Having found out about the monthly income of an average household (with a maximum of Rs. 3000 in a month) and the charges of using the public toilet (Re. 1 for using the toilet, Rs. 2 for bathing and Rs. 2 for washing clothes).. I was just trying to look at the income and expenditure of each family on this basic need. On an average the household size is 5, the man of the house being the only earning member of the family (as after being relocated from elsewhere to Bawana, the women who were earlier domestic helps in various houses, now don’t have close by ‘middle class’ or ‘upper middle class’ or rich households to work in and are not skilled enough to be employed in the close-by industrial area).So, there is the husband, wife and 3 kids – all of whom are above the age of 5 years. (the toilet usage is free only for children upto the age of 5) Each day, each of them would use the toilet about 5 times, each paying Re. 1 for each usage (the bias towards women in terms of a once a day payment was found only in one toilet – so, mostly everyone HAS to pay every time they use the toilet – and of course the NORM that women are not supposed to be charge for usage is completely forgotten), and they would be bathing also, at least once a day (each paying Rs. 2 for a bathing). And the woman of the house would also be washing clothes once in the day (paying Rs. 2 for washing clothes). So, the total expenditure on usage of the public toilet, by the family, would work out at about Rs.25 + Rs. 10 + Rs. 2 = Rs. 37. Assuming that the man is a daily wage worker and gets the LEGAL minimum wage i.e. Rs. 100; so one can say that about 37% of the earnings are being spent solely on the use of a public toilet by the family – which is, of course a large proportion of the entire income.

And, I was just search on the net and I found an article on th same issue in a slum area in South Delhi.

Here it is....

Will you spend Rs. 30 a day on using the toilet? – an article from the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (a NGO which works on the use of the RTI) Website

Can a person who earns Rs. 60 a day to support a family of 6 afford Rs. 30 a day for using the toilet? These seemingly absurd questions are everyday struggles for the residents of Jagdamba camp. Lack of a sewer system in this slum settlement makes it impossible for individual homes to have toilets, rendering the residents totally dependent on a public toilet run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The MCD sub-contracts the operation and maintenance of this toilet to an NGO. The contractor (NGO) demanded Re.1 per person every time anyone used the toilet. Even small children, who need to use the toilet more frequently, were required to pay Re.1 every time. The prohibitive cost of this facility left most people with little option but to defecate openly, which became a health concern in the area. Asma, a slum resident, says, “Bachchon se kehta tha paise do nahi to maroonga. Dar ke bachche jate bhi nahi the. ” (He used to threaten to beat the children if they didn’t pay. The kids refused to go to the toilet out of fear). When the camp’s Mahila Mandal (women’s self help group) approached SNS with these issues, SNS volunteers used the Delhi RTI Act to ask for a copy of the contract awarded by MCD for the operation of the toilet. They also sought information regarding the penalty to be imposed on the contractor for violating the terms of the contract in addition to asking the name and designation of MCD officials responsible for ensuring proper functioning of the toilet. The information obtained in response to the RTI application clearly stated that as per the contract signed between the MCD and the contractor, children below 12 years of age are to avail the facility free of cost, and the toilet is to be maintained by the NGO on a no-profit no-loss basis. This information was publicised among residents of the camp and published in SNS’s newsletter Apna Panna, causing uproar. People were furious to know that for over ten years, they had been cheated into paying for the use of the toilet by children below 12 years; and that the non-governmental agency which was supposed to run the facility as service to society had been earning profits of about Rs.50,000 a month! Empowered with this information, residents approached the MCD Slum department which is responsible for the functioning of MCD toilets in slums and registered a complaint. The community’s pressure resulted in the contract being cancelled and given to another NGO which is now running the toilet properly. Residents, particularly members of the Mahila Mandal, are also insisting that the NGO display the terms of the contract on a board outside the toilet so that no one can be fooled again into paying more for the use of this essential service. Armed with information about their rights, people are not only better prepared but also more willing to stand up to defend them. Sabina, another resident, exemplifies this change, “Pehle aise mein hum dar jaate the, chup ho jate the. Par ab jab jankari ho gayi hai to hum bhi lad jate hain.” (Earlier we used to get intimidated and keep quiet. But now that we have information, we can also stand up for ourselves and put up a fight).

So the estimates aren't very different I guess!

third world rocker

Hi,
I'm Pascal-I don't have a gmail account nor shall I get one ever,-avoiding being gregarious is my Irish pride- so I borrowed someone elses to talk about Nikhil Joseph my Research partner...

Now, not only does this guy seem to be born in the wrong Country, India and wrong region, Kerala but he seems to have got wrong somewhere on the time scale too. In a ideal world, he would have been born in 1960s-1970s America, tripping on LSD and talking about a revolution. He actually seems to live for Western Rock despite everything, he tries every morning to grow a ZZ Top-style beard in the mirror (chin forward in effort) but the result is disappointing, only a pre-pubescent shade appears.

So this rocker Research partner dreaming of his guitars in stead of tripping on Variable Tension Monocords from Rajasthan is really an ok guy but his hypocrisy leads him to doubt every day whether he is a closet socialist or a libertarian at heart. Even his studies ("development studies" whatever that may mean) seem to lead him to a confusion about Life on Earth and extraterrestrial spontaneous lifeforms.

In a few words,a weirdo,but a nice one to work with nevertheless. Oh and he's got a strange passion for USSR in the pure Janis Joplin/Jane Fonda style...

So yeah for the "hardcore libertarian who believes in blogs as being a communist threat" I certainly have my equal as a research partner.

This internship is getting ever weirder with him!

What happened yesterday?

Hi

Hi I am Vishishta and I am one of the externs from Kerala.

As part of my individual project, I am looking at the implementation of the Vishakha guidelines in universities across Kerala.

The Vishakha guidelines are a set of guidelines that the Supreme Court of India laid down way back in 1997 to protect women from sexual harassement at workplaces. The guidelines are just a framework given by the Court and I feel that each university should frame individual guidelines keeping in mind the structure of the institution. Sadly enough little has been done about this issue.

I am trying to cover three universities in Kerala on geographical parameters they are as follows: Kerala University (south), Calicut University (north) and Mahatma Gandhi University (central).

I started the project in my own university. To my surprise the Kerala University framed fancy guidelines in 2001 (which I obviously had never heard of). They framed it for sure, put it down on paper for sure but somewhere down the line they just forgot to implement it properly. This is what I had jotted down in my blog at the end of the first week

“The first week has been crazy.

Going in search of the Kerala University guidelines on sexual harassment is not as easy as I had thought it to be. I’m not amazed at the reservations that the UniversityOfficials have expressed in handing over the documents, but you know, there is a world of a difference between foreseeing something and actuallyexperiencing it.

Bureaucracy and the subsequent paper works that followed it, managed to dampen my spirits a bit. By Thursday I almost felt like killing someone. In the middle of it all I kept thinking to myself as to how difficult it would be for anyone one to come forward and even register a complaint with the sexual harassment committee at this rate. Guidelines, circulars, notifications that are published by the University every year, these very documents that are put on every notice board only to be taken off with the passage of time when the ink runs off the paper, What is so classified about
these documents??? Sadly enough, for something that should be given maximum publicity, the university officials were just cringing at the idea of even handing over the files for a quick read.

And it didn’t really help when one particularly unrelenting committee member made a statement as follows
“we try to settle all the matters amicably otherwise people might end up losing their
jobs”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn’t even know how to react to that statement
First rule of conducting an interview, never express your opinion. And I didn’t, atleast at that point in time

I need to keep a check on myself.

But it just took a toll on me, by the end of the week; I must have looked like someone on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I was partially lecturing another committee member but she was kind enough to give me a good hearing and STILL give me the history behind the formation of the committee and its functioning. We
talked about the social outlook on such issues and the reasons for the
ineffectiveness of the committee. But I won’t forget what she said as I
got up to leave
“we have to make the guidelines and the workings of the
committee more known. But we also have to shape the mindset of a whole
generation. There has to be a greater sense of civil society and greater
responsibility of consciousness in civil society, like witnesses should not turn
hostile when asked to testify a victim’s claim before a committee. And I feel
that the most responsive lot are the students themselves, we should make an
effort to start a change with them”
Amen”

That was three weeks back, now with the questionnaire prepared and a few interviews conducted in the Kerala University I ventured into the Calicut University campus last Wednesday.

The university came under a lot of flak in 1999-2000 for mishandling P Usha’s case. (I hope you guys find this link interesting http://www.sacw.net/2002/FeministPolKerala.html). I had been warned before hand of hostile committee members but man were they rude.
One committee member asked me not to contact her at all. The other one got up half way through the interview on the pretext of urgent personal meeting. Yet another committee member refuses to speak to me till I get the registrars permission.... its insane but its true. I am presently dealing with a bunch of ********.

All this really helps considering the fact that the Calicut university does not have separate guidelines. Everything from the appointment of the committee members to the final outcome of the case is so arbitrary and stepped in political overtones.

The journey has just begun.

MAKING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS!!!!

HI EVERYBODY!!

It goes for the externs specially....
We had a session today on " Making effective Presentations"
It would be great if you ask you friends( Interns) about their key learnings
from the session. And ask them as many questions as possible.......!!!!
I would just give you an introduction., What do you mean by Presentation?
A. It is a summary of ideas...................................................................................

Find the rest of the story from your dear Friends!!!!

keep blogging
Jyotika

How not to order Lunch

For all those who take it upon themselves to order lunch for everyone, a few pointers:

1. Count the number of people.
2. Count again.
3. Write down the number.
4. Count again.
5. Confirm.
6. Count again.
7. For those who aren’t very vocal about their preferences, ask again. And again.
8. Count one final time and write it down.
9. Call any one dabba wallah.
10. Place the order for the final figure that you wrote.
11. Don’t call some other dabba wallah.
12. Count when the order arrives.
    

On liberty and suchlike

Hi,

I'll skip the irony in being 'forced' to post on a blog meant for a bunch of 'libertarians'. :) But I guess it's a good way of getting to know the externs. So hello externs, and hello people sitting across the room.

I'm Nikhil, and I'm doing my primary research project with Pascal, who's a hardcore libertarian from France who thinks blogs are a part of a global communist conspiracy and therefore doesn't fancy posting anything.

Our project is on how individuals can offer solutions in the provision of low cost housing to the urban poor. So far we've done quite a bit of reading on what sort of policies the Delhi govt. has implemented in this regard, and where they've failed. We've also talked to a prominent Architect & Urbanist who helped us understand the problems in the way cities have been planned in India, and the various drawbacks in the policies that aimed to provide housing for the urban poor, such as housing them in resettlement colonies. We've also visited a slum nearby to get a first hand perspective into life in a slum. We've also talked to people from NGOs who've worked in slums and with the urban poor in general. In the coming weeks we hope to visit more slums in areas around Delhi, and also visit the Slum and JJ Department at the MCD.

My other project is.... well... I'll get back to you on that.

In Liberty,
Nikhil