NEW DELHI: “Pucca makan kise nahin chahiye. Lekin sab kaam chunao se pehle hota hai (Who doesn’t want a concrete house? However, these offers are on the table only before elections),” said Santosh, a domestic help who has been a resident of Shakur Basti for the last 33 years.
Nestled right behind the Shakur Basti railway station, the jhuggi-jhopri colony, one of many in the city, is home to more than 5,000 settlers. Otherwise left to their sorry fates, residents of the city’s JJ clusters are suddenly the centre of attraction for netas of all hues.
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Notices have gone up on the walls of the humble huts to raise general awareness on the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana — a flagship central scheme offering two-room apartments to residents of JJ clusters.
Residents said some officials came calling a month ago and had them fill out forms. They said they were given token numbers and asked to follow up after 4 months on whether they’d been allotted apartments under the scheme.
“Before elections, leaders, across parties, visit us and make promises they never keep. Even (former CM) Sheila Dikshit had promised to build us houses but nothing happened on that front. A few days back, some AAP leaders came and told us not to fall for the Centre’s fake scheme. BJP leaders, too, visited us and said the Delhi government is taking us for a ride. The bottom line is that no party is willing to work for us,” Manju, a labourer, said.
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The slum clusters are deemed squatter settlements on public land. They are also considered as one of seven government-designated categories of unplanned settlements in Delhi.
Demolition
Residents said the slum faced the might of the bulldozer in 2015 when Railway officials, along with the police, carried out a demolition drive. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, then Railways minister Suresh Prabhu and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were among the political heavyweights who visited them at the time, they recalled. While some settlers have since transformed their jhopris (huts) into jhuggis (dwelling units made of mud and corrugated iron), majority are still sheltered under plastic tents behind the Shakur Basti railway station.
“The CM had assured us that no one will harm us again. While we haven’t faced any police harassment since, not one political leader came calling in all these years. Look at the state we are in. We neither have electricity, nor concrete roofs over our heads. Winters are especially unforgiving for us. Water tankers are the only regular visitors we get. However, the mohalla clinic has been of immense help,” Ranjit Ram, another resident of Shakur Basti, said.
Why their votes count
Delhi is home to an estimated 4.2 lakh JJ clusters, roughly accounting for about 15 per cent of the city’s population, as per Census 2011. According to Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, the city has around 750 identified colonies. Considered key to deciding the outcome of elections, the settlers have been wooed with promises galore. However, not many have been fulfilled till date.
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While craving for permanent shelters, majority of the dwellers claimed that Kejriwal’s big-bang moves — free electricity upto 200 units and free water — have come as a boon.
“For us, saving money on basic amenities matters a lot. However, there’s no sense of security as we may be asked to vacate the land any day. The CM did assure us that we won’t be thrown out and the police haven’t troubled us since,” Anil Kumar, a resident of Ravidas Camp in RK Puram, said.
Locals claimed due to absence of law concerning ownership of land in JJ clusters, many have raised pucca houses, thereby encroaching more space.
“Jisko jahan zameen khali mila ghar bana liya…aab floors bana rahe hain (those who found empty space, built homes. They’re adding floor now). Now, the CM has said more houses would be allotted on the same land,” Roop Singh, a resident of a cluster in Ratanpuri Chowk, Rajinder Nagar, said. Majority of slum dwellers said they would be happy if the government turns their jhuggis into pucca houses.
“People here mostly run stalls. Where else will they find a source of livelihood? I am not willing to move out,” Geeta Narang, a settler at Bhoomiheen camp, Govindpuri, said.
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Promises ahead of polls
Keen to regain the reins of Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has focused its campaign on JJ clusters. Outsized cutouts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hoardings detailing the Centre’s housing scheme have gone up across colonies and clusters.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also unleashed a charm offensive on the slum settlers, launching the ‘Mukhyamantri Awas Yojna’ for the residents of JJ clusters. As part of the scheme, Kejriwal has already distributed ownership certificates to 65,000 families.
The Congress has promised to replicate the ‘Kalkaji Model’ in JJ clusters. Apartments with modern amenities were built in Kalkaji during the previous Congress government.