Slum-dwellers: Creating scopes for their social inlcusion

Danish-American social reformer Jacob August Riis (1849-1914) once said, "The slum is the measure of civilization." Despite the world's radical progress, the slums exist and so do the dwellers within. Rest of the humanity should contribute to the betterment of slum-dwellers as well as take necessary actions to reduce the slum population.
 According to the recently-published Legatum Prosperity Index (2016), the world prospered 3.0 per cent more than what it was in 2007 regardless of global average or countries weight scores by their populations. Simultaneously, Bangladesh is also progressing but requires more speed. The report ranks Bangladesh  114th among 149 countries.
Since the independence, Bangladesh has progressed enormously and is still moving ahead as observed in many social and economic indicators. However, the country requires further improvement to accelerate growth rate. Undoubtedly, transforming the slum-dwellers into valuable human assets would lead to an inclusive economic development.

According to the Census of Slum Areas and Floating Population 2014 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 2.23 million people of 5,94,861 households lived in 13935 slums in that year. The number of slums increased by 4.65 times from 1997 when the figure was 2991. The maximum slum-dwellers lived in Dhaka Division representing 1.06 million people. The standard of living of the slum-dwellers is the lowest compared to other income groups.
In 2016, World Statistics Pocketbook stated that the annual average growth rate of urban population was 3.6 per cent during 2010-15. According to the World Bank, 33.51 per cent of total population in 2014 was living in urban areas and it was 34.27 per cent in 2015. Such facts suggest that the number of people living in urban slums will increase as the outcome of an increase in urban population.
Apparently, the number of urban-slum population is skyrocketing due to the migration of poverty-stricken rural population to the urban areas like Dhaka for improving their lives - usually for earning more. Primarily, they are engaged in jobs like daily labour, rickshaw-pulling, street food vending, construction work, and employment in garment factories.
Countless slum-dwellers are involved in various economic activities that help the city economies to run smoothly. Rickshaw-pullers greatly serve the urban population Likewise, a significant part of employed slum-dwellers are garment workers.
Since the slum-dwellers are active in both mainstream and unconventional economic activities, their potential must be availed. In contrast, some unemployed slum-dwellers and those who are involved in immoral or criminal activities, are indeed a burden for a society.
Slum-dwellers should not merely be treated as intruders in urban areas. They should be provided with training, education, social benefits and opportunities for financial inclusion.
Society must change its attitude towards slum-dwellers as the overwhelming majority of them work hard to survive.
The urban population is in grave danger due to massive food adulteration and severe environmental pollution. The people of low-income group and slum-dwellers are the worst victims as they fail to meet the required health expenditure. They should get proper healthcare facilities from public hospitals. In order to cover higher healthcare costs, the government should increase budgetary allocation for public health.
Likewise, slum-dwellers need more social benefits and training facilities from the government and civil society to gain adequate skills for improving their living standards. Numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs), alongside the government, are working hard to lift the poor conditions of slum-dwellers, but more needs to be done. Training schemes for the slums' unemployed youth as potential job-seekers are necessary to turn them into human assets.
Here are some Suggestions: 1. The government can increase budgetary allocation for social security and welfare, and slum-dwellers should be included in the Social Safety Net Programme, if they are not yet included.  2. Along with NGOs, the government can arrange educational facilities for the slum-dwellers - both for the children and the adults. 3. The government may establish special hospitals meant for slum-dwellers. 4. Motivational workshops for slum-dwellers in building personal and social capabilities may be organised  by the government through public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
The writer is a postgraduate from the Dhaka School of Economics.
iqbal.econ.3@gmail.com