Invisible Children & Indian Slums

Early this year, Indian government has released- first of it’s kind- the Urban Poverty Report 2009, which estimates over 25 percent of urban population i.e. above 80 million lives in slums on poverty level. Among these 80 million, the worst sufferers are children.

US-based writer Shelley Seale has come up with her own experience with Indian slum children with a difference. Her book The Weight of Silence: Invisible Children of India, is aim to create awareness for these invisible children.

“Amidst the growing prosperity of India, there is an entire generation of parentless children growing up. They are everywhere. They fill the streets, the railway stations, the shanty villages. Some scrounge through trash for newspapers, rags or anything they can sell at traffic intersections. Others, often as young as two or three years old, beg. Many are homeless, overflowing orphanages and other institutional homes to live on the streets where they are extremely vulnerable to being trafficked into child labor if they’re lucky, brothels if they’re not. They are invisible children; their plight goes virtually unnoticed, their voices silenced,” Shelley wrote.

In Indian capital of Delhi, around three million people live in 1,500 slums. In these children hundred of thousand children daily survive the hardship of their life. Despite of their tough life, many of them has succeeded in showing ray of hope to others. Some of the examples from Delhi’s slums are

Community Newspapers
Slum children of Lal Quan and Haiderpur are engage in community publishing for spreading awareness. They publish wallpapers ‘Haiderpur Darpan’ and ‘Lal Quan Darpan’ respectively.

Children’s Bank
Bal Vikas Bank (Children Development Bank) is a bank for street children. It is owned and managed by children as a cooperative.

Slumdog Guides
Like Jamaal Malik, Slumdog Millionaire’s key character who rose from slums to become a millionaire despite all odds, there are an informal group of street children in Delhi who turned up as guide for foreign tourist for showcasing life in Delhi’s Slums.

Children Puppeteers
Child puppeteers belonging to low-income artist families keep alive their artistic traditions despite economic hardship. Kalakar Vikas School, an NGO, is training nearly four hundred children into their traditional arts.

Even Shelley inspired from spirit of Indian slum children as she puts: “Little did I know how much they would change my life. Their hope and resilience amazed me time and time again; the ability of their spirits to overcome crippling challenges inspired me. Even in the most deprived circumstances they are still kids – they laugh and play, perhaps far less frequently than others; they develop strong bonds and relationships to create family where none exists; and most of all they have an enormous amount of love to give.”

In her book, shelley combines hardships of vulenerable Indian children with her feelings. This book is a moral reponse of a concern human being.

Jai Ho!

Policemen on Saturday put barricades on a road passing through 24, Akbar Road in New Delhi, Indian capital, in order to manage crowd of political workers and media persons.

This address again becomes powerhouse of India after the announcement of election results. It is head office of country’s grand old Congress party, which has ruled South Asian giant over four decades in post-independent period.

Congress emerged as single largest party with 201 seats in 543-seated Lok Sabha or Lower House of Parliament. It is a best performance by an Indian political party in last two decades.

It got 56 more seats than 2004, in an indication of people’s clear mandate to party-led alliance, which beat anti-incumbency. Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) got 260 plus seats, slightly away from magic figure of 272.

The alliance is likely to muster support of some small parties and independents to achieve half-way mark. Congress is likely to stake claim on Monday.

“We got this mandate due to leadership of party chief Sonia Gandhi, work done by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and effective election campaign by Rahul Gandhi,” Janardhan Dwivedi, a senior Congress leader, said.

Congress’s splendid victory is significant in two ways. One is it indicates drift in India politics again towards national parties. In last two decades, India witnessed rise in regional parties, which used their small numbers for seeking larger share in power.

The other significance of verdict is rejection of divisive politics of right-wing Bhartiya Janta Party.

Opposition Bhartiya Janta Party (Indian People’s Party) or BJP, a Hindu nationalist party, got 121 seats, 16 less than it’s 2004 tally, and accepted defeat. Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 160 seats.

NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani, who ran a Presidential-type campaign, offered to quit as leader of opposition and likely to retire from active politics.

“The results are on expected lines. Congress is more acceptable to people than Bhartiya Janta Party, which has nothing to offer to people except riots,” says Raghuveer Chandel, a Congress worker from neighboring district of Faridabad.

Thirty two year old law graduate Pawan Kumar, who joined over a hundred party workers at Congress head office for celebrating victory, said: “Youth across the country posed faith on Rahul Gandhi. In last election Sonia Gandhi led party to victory and in this election all credit goes to Rahul Gandhi.”

Thirty eight year old Rahul Gandhi, a scion of Nehru-Gandhi family, is expected to take an important assignment in new government. Even, there is possibility of him becoming Prime Minister after two-three year of new government.

“Today is Diwali for me. I’ll lit lamps at home tonight and distribute sweets in my locality,” said Ganga Bai, an overjoyed member of party’s women wing.

In her forties, Ganga Bai is typical Indian women political worker. She lived in a Delhi’s slum with her husband and three children.

“I’m proud to be associated with a party led by a woman,” she hurriedly replied when asked about her strong dedication towards party.

When asked about their opinion on party’s splendid victory, a group of youth Congress worker from Uttar Pradesh state responded in one tone: Jai Ho!

Congress party had taken right of Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire’s song for election campaign. Verdict proved that Congress’s decision wasn’t wrong.


Salient Points of Verdict

01. Congress-led UPA gets 261 seats, while opposition BJP-led NDA gets 160 seats.
02. Congress’s tally of 201 seats is a best performance by an Indian political party in last two decades.
03. BJP’s 121 is worst performance since 1991, a year when saffron party witnessed a remarkable rise from it’s tally of only two seats in 1984.
04. Manmohan Singh, a globally respected economist who led Congress to victory, becomes only Indian Prime Minister since Jawahar Lal Nehru, first Prime Minister, in 1961 to be voted back after completing five year term.
05. Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, India’s biggest left party, gave it’s worst performance by winning just 16 seats. In 2004, CPM-led Left Front won astonishing 59 seats giving it’s best ever performance. Now, Left Front won only 24 seats.
06. In political important state of Uttar Pradesh, which send largest chunk of MPs in parliament, low-caste leader and one of aspirant for the post of Prime Minister Mayawati failed to perform on expected lines and got only 20 seats while Congress has put it’s best performance in state, winning 21 seats, after 1984.
07. Congress-led alliance put almost sweep in metro cities including Delhi and Mumbai
08. Some of the big losers of this election are former Union Ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Mani Shankar Aiyer, AR Antulay and Renuka Choudhary.

From Research Store: 16 May, 2009