The Ghunghutipada slum in ward no.17 of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation is home to more than 200 households belonging to scheduled castes (SCs). About 400 years back the then king Rajabalaram Deo had engaged their forefathers to beat drums during temple rituals and also to maintain the cleanliness of the temple premises. Since then they have been staying over the land[Read More...]
In recent times urban poor households have faced great difficulties due to the pandemic as well as loss of livelihoods and income. In such times they need help and certainly nothing should be done which will increase their difficulties. So it is really very disturbing to know that thousands of hut and slum dwellers have been recently threatened by[Read More...]
Janhastakshep takes serious note of and unequivocally condemns the inhuman, illegal and unethical demolition of thousands of houses (Jhuggis) of the Indian citizens along the railway lines near Keshavpuram and Nangloi in Delhi, the day before yesterday (10th September 2020), by the Railway authorities and Delhi Police under the pretext of Supreme Court Order, 31 august 2020, by a bench[Read More...]
The recent order by the Supreme Court 3-judge bench that threatens the homes and livelihoods of an estimated 48,000 families living along 70 km of railway tracks because they were “encroachments which are there in the safety zones,” has understandably raised many concerns. To place this order in context it is necessary to understand the trajectory of the courts and[Read More...]
People Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) expresses its disappointment at the decision of the Supreme Court of India dated 31.08.2020 in `M.C. Mehta v Union Of India & Ors’ (Writ Petition No. 13029/1985), and condemns the direction to demolish within the next three months over 48,000 homes of the urban poor in Delhi as being in complete violation of the[Read More...]
The horrific incident of brutalities unleashed by the Madhya Pradesh police on a Dalit farmer’s family in Guna yesterday did not catch the attention of India’s mainstream media initially and got noticed only when a campaign on twitter started trending seeking chief minister Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan’s resignation. Today, the ‘national’ media too reported the story and as per latest[Read More...]
In the 13 Rules for Radicals by American Activist Saul Alinsky for the Community Organisers, the first rule is “Power is not what you think you have but what the enemy thinks you have.” These rules are for the low income Communities towards gaining social, political, economic and legal power. Also, the radicalism has been described a sone of the[Read More...]
The immediate need of the families affected by this incident is related to water, Food, temporary shelter (Shaded) till they recover their belongings from under the debris and start to make their living. As a secondary need they will require support for the proper rehabilitation within the legal framework. Things to be taken in notice is that although there’s a big population of women in the slum, no women police officers were present at the time of demolition.
