Headline January 23, 2018/ '' 'SLUM DWELLERS SAINT' '

'' 'SLUM DWELLERS SAINT' ''

IN A WORLD where social dislocations are very, very common due to war, disasters, social conflict, and loss of agriculture or pastoral livelihood, the survival option for the helpless is to migrate to cities.

Living in informal sector, working for day wages and managing the disconnect from city affairs in every respect remains the key predicaments of such neo-urban dwellers.

An organisation namely : Slum Dwellers International [SDI] was founded in 1996 with its headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa.

The other countries that joined included Kenya, India, Nepal, Namibia, Burkina, Faso, Swaziland, Thailand, Togo, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Sierra Leone, Lesotho, Ghana and Angola.

Jockin Arputam was its president. 

JOCKIN ARPUTHAM - who was regarded as the voice of the slum dwellers right across the globe, passed away in Mumbai on October 13, 2018.

He was a strong proponent of the rights of the slum dwellers in cities, whom he termed one of the most important social class that managed menial works and sustained lifestyles of the middle classes.

Jockin continued to struggle for ensuring safety of tenure for the vulnerable slum dwellers in different locations in Mumbai since 1970s.

From his early childhood, Jockin moved to Mumbai where he lived on pavements, shacks and slums for the next three decades of his life. He learned the vocation of wood work and initially practiced it to earn a living.

During these times, he began observing the problems faced by the marginalised communities in Mumbai. The fear of eviction was the foremost among his fellow shack dwellers.

Like other primate cities in populous South Asia, more than half of the urban population in Mumbai used to reside in slums without proper services and and security of tenure. This equation has not changed to date

Jockin and his comrades organised the slum dwellers at the grass roots level and developed many a community-based organisations in different locations with a purpose to consolidate their voice.

He founded National Slum Dwellers Federation [NSDF] in India as an umbrella organisation to fight for the rights and protection of the urban poor communities.

Large and medium sized cities received thousands of migrants as new city dwellers for whom no provision of of housing or urban basic services were available.

Jockin supported these communities to organise them and fight for their rights in the wake of eviction fears.

Side by side, he enabled these organisations to evolve development strategies for provision of water supply arrangements, sanitation and livelihood support..

Building toilets, basic shelters and other facilities was ably done by Jockin and his team.

Slums are in every developing country. Many of the challenges faced by the slum dwellers are common. When a solution is developed and applied in one context, there is a significant possibility that the same solution could be wholly or partially relevant to other locations.

Jockin realised this fact and worked hard to evolve an international platform for addressing the issues of slum dwellers.

Slum Dwellers International focused on promotion of women development strategies, slum infrastructure development, creation of saving groups, enumerations and mapping work and mutual exchange of idea and experiences.

The Honor and Serving of the latest Global Operational Research on Poverty, Dislocations, and Slum Dwellers, continues. The World Students Society thanks author and researcher Dr. Noman Ahmad.

With respectful dedication to All the Slum Dwellers of the world, and then the Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers.

See Ya all prepare for Great Global Elections and  ''register'' on : wssciw.blogspot.com - The World Students Society, for every subject in the world and Twitter-E-!WOW!-the Ecosystem 2011:


''' Slums To Dwell '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless