Times of India - Pune April 16, 2002

Survey Shatters Myths About Slums: better jobs, higher incomes, healthy male-female ratios…. it's a silent revolution: By Manjiri Damle, Times News Network:
PUNE: Perhaps the only reason you would deign to tolerate the inevitable slum in your neighbourhood is the perennial supply of kaamwali bais (maidservants) it offers. For all other purposes, you would consider it an eyesore, replete with half-naked, unwashed children running around, and rag pickers, criminals, illiterate people and stray animals to boot.

Or so you thought. A recent survey conducted by non-governmental organisation (NGO) Shelter Associates would tell you that not only do the slums in the city house a sizeable number of government employees, factory workers and small entrepreneurs, but also a few computer professionals, teachers, nurses and even doctors!

The data shows that the profile of city slums has changed steadily. Contrary to popular belief, families do not have more than three children. "The survey conducted across 211 city slums revealed that the average familiy size is 4.7, which means that the number of children per familiy is two or three", says Pratima Joshi of Shelter Associates. The families have been living in these slums fro more than 15 years, and almost 96 percent of those living in major slums like Kashewadi, janwadi or Kamgar Putala have their names on the electoral roll of 1995.

Accordingv to the estimates of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), there are 503 slums in the city, out of which 322 have been declared official (since they have come up prior to the cut-off year of 1995.) Approximately 44 percent of the city's population lives here, occupying less than ten percent of its land.

Most families have incomes ranging from Rs 2000 to Rs 6000 per month. However, the income ranges between Rs 6000 and Rs 7500 when both husband and wife work.

Slums also have a good female-male ratio. While the ratio for the state has dipped to 922 families per 1000 males, in the latest census, the Kamgar Putala slum, for example, has a healthy ratio of 1004 females to 1000 males! "In Kashewadi too, we found almost 95 to 98 women per 100 males," Joshi said.

Joshi feels these slum-dwellers should be brought into mainstream housing. " The popular in situ Lok Aawas schemes for slums would not be feasible in places like Janwadi where the tenement density norms of 225 and 500 hutments per hectare with floor space indices 1 and 2.5 respectively.