Delhi govt enlists help from college students to survey slum residents

Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the Delhi government slums management agency, is seeking the help of college students to carry out a survey to identify issues being faced by those use the 1,000-odd community toilets run by the agency, besides problems faced by occupants of nearly 800 night shelters

Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the Delhi government slums management agency, is seeking the help of college students to carry out a survey to identify issues being faced by those use the 1,000-odd community toilets run by the agency, besides problems faced by occupants of nearly 800 night shelters.

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The survey will also help the agency identify beneficiaries of the slum and JJ cluster rehabilitation policy, which focuses on in-situ (in place) rehabilitation of those living in slums, DUSIB officials said, adding that their efforts have been hamstrung by a serious staff shortage and that is why they have enlisted the help of students. The students will be paid a stipend of ₹15,000 a month and presented with a certificate on completion of the internship.

K Mahesh, chief secretive officer, DUSIB, said the survey teams will be deployed in 195 night shelters to understand the needs, challenges and issues faced by the occupants.

Mahesh said the survey will be carried out in slum clusters which are located on DUSIB land to gather information about school-going children so that the agency could decides on the sites for setting up public libraries. “We will also try to find out the areas that need day-care for children. Slums have a large number of nuclear families where both wife and husband work and they have no one to mind their children,” said Mahesh, adding that around 2,1 million people -- almost 10% of Delhi’s population -- live in these 800 slum colonies.

The official said at a few night shelters, there were some people who have been staying there for a long time -- a few for as long as 10 years.

Mahesh said the board has also written to the vice-chancellors of Delhi University and Indraprastha University to encourage their willing students to participate in the survey.