URBAN SOCIOLOGY (SEMESTER-5) Caste and gender in a Mumbai resettlement site

overview

·        Study conducted at resettlement site in Mumbai

·        METHODOLOGY: Socio-anthropological research & Fieldwork 

·        Experiences of urban dalit women affected by displacement

·        How ’Social Factors’- Caste n gender,  play significant role in cities. (caste, religion, identity and gender.)

·        Consequences of process of displacement and resettlement.

·        Emergence of complex spaces at cities periphery and new forms of urban exclusion

·        Role of NGO’s and Civic authorities.

 

Intro

 

·        McKinsey’s recommendations to transform Mumbai into a  “World Class” city for capitalist projects- Relaxation of land acquisition & Control over labor.

·        6 areas that needed improvement- Housing, economic growth, transportation, governance, structure related to water, sanitation, health facilities, population reduction.

·        Implementation lead to demolition of shanties – 3,00,000 homeless people.

·        “Indian Tsunami”

·        Banerjee-Guha claimed this approach to be anti-poor- MMRDA & McKinsey as “active collaborators”

·        Cernea defines “involuntary resettlement” process as consisting of  2 components-

     1) displacement of people

     2) reconstruction of their livelihood

·        In India- Resettlement & Rehabilitation

·        It leads to social and political crisis

·        Muslim and Dalit women as the “silenced” and “invisible” victims of urban development, displacement and resettlement.

 

Geographical Location and Profile 

 

·        Lallubhai Complex, is located in the midst of the sprawling slums of Mankhurd.

·        Holds approximately 72 five-storied buildings, divided into three sectors, namely, A, B and C. 

·        The host communities around this resettlement site- dalit and Muslim communities, and predominantly belong to low-income families. 

·        Approximately 1,000 makeshift tenements were constructed by the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) to accommodate project-affected families.

·         These families were promised that they would be rehoused in Lallubhai Compound, but more than 50% of those residing since 2005 were not given a tenement there under the pretext of lack of proper documentation 

 

Unsettling Households and Communities

·        serious flaws in the implementation of the process of resettlement and rehabilitation. 

·        Tata Institute of Social Sciences- “recycling of poverty” 

·        Another team of architects, and human rights advocates who visited Lallubhai Compound deemed it a “vertical slum” and unfit for decent living.

·        lack of access to civic amenities, public transportation, access to a common place of worship and a heightened sense of insecurity and lack of belongingness 

·        access to basic amenities, including water and transportation, has been a chronic issue. 

·        Though access to public transportation, namely bus services, has improved 

·        residents were satisfied that they have a pucca house which they legally own. 

Commuting Made Difficult 

 

·        There is no direct approach road to this resettlement site. 

·        In spite of it being very close to the suburban railway station of Mankhurd, it lacks public transportation to and fro.

·        Residents cross the patri (railway tracks) in order to reach the station. 

·        This  “short cut” is highly risky and liable to punishment. 

·        women and schoolgoing children compelled to take the other longer and comparatively expensive routes to commute to their school or workplace. 

·        a major reason for loss of livelihood for many, particularly the women. 

·        Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport 

·        relocation has caused job loss, financial economic stress, mental stress, tension among family members, and loss of social network and support system. 

·        Along with these, alcoholism and a sense of hopelessness among the men had increased. 

 

Survival of the Fittest 

·        In 2005, when the site was new and residents were just beginning to occupy the tenements, the site lacked access to basic amenities 

·        the state, the builders and the NGOs did not pay attention to the basic standards of building codes/regulations. 

·        Ventilation, Health and Crime: buildings are too close to each other

-hallways dark and dingy-breeding grounds for both disease and petty crimes. 

·        Poor Infrastructure and Garbage Disposal: Leakages and water clogging during the monsoons

-quality of the construction material low-undersized pipes-no clearance of garbage.

 

·        Health Hazards of Water Shortage and Defunct Toilets: major problem with the site- its design. 

-Room size-225 square feet. 

-Provision of bath and toilet 

·        Water: water shortage during initial stages- forced to buy water from the nearby slums

·        “water intermediaries” 

·        Improvement- from seven minutes to 30 minutes per day 

·        Voicing Frustration: after several struggles and protest rallies that some improvements were made.

-Residents demanded daily water supply, removal of garbage, a safe approach road, a foot overbridge to Mankhurd station, lights at the street inter- sections, etc. 

 

 

Neighbourhood Conflicts 

·        day-to-day conflicts and fights referred to as “kirkiri, bachabachi or as bhandan” .

·        diverse social identities 

·        “invading their privacy” and usurping scarce resources such as water or occupying the upper floors. 

·        elevator services 

·        There was social discord amongst the residents over “the other” 

 

Insecurity, Crime and Segregation 

·        overcrowding in certain buildings and hundreds of tenements that are still unoccupied and vacant 

·        unoccupied buildings- breeding grounds for the formation of gangs, thefts, drug consumption by children, attacks on police and even cases of rape. 

·        This resettlement site comprises a mixed group of residents belonging to diverse income and social groups. 

·        communal conflicts were under-reported. 

·        conflicts between lower-castes Hindus and Muslims over religious processions. 

·        Inter-religious love affairs (lafda), eve-teasing and the emotional atmosphere during cricket matches played between India and Pakistan. 

·        segregation was practised across all castes, religions, and language groups despite their common struggles and proximity 

·        residential hierarchy- chawl, slum or pavement dwellers 

·        hierarchies based on social identities- Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, (largely ex-Mahars), harijans (Tamil dalits of the Pariah caste), and Christians. 

·        Marathas (an upper caste) and Other Backward Caste Hindus associated the problem of overcrowding with “these untouchable castes and religion”. 

·        The lower-caste Hindu residents always feared the Muslim community 

·        about seven masjids and we have only three Hindu temples”. 

·        dalits were perceived as troublemakers and assertive by the Hindus.  

 

Segregated & Stigmatised Social/Community Life 

·        There is a strong feeling of “we” among the Hindus, who consider themselves as a majority. They disassociate themselves from the “others” 

·        The women’s social life was restricted to within their buildings

·        Friendships across different castes, religions and languages were rare. 

·        Religious festivals were celebrated with great fervour and thousands of rupees were spent on festivities. 

·        These festivities were also an opportunity to register communal presence and dis- play of power politics. 

·        these celebrations were considered a “masculine” affair 

 

Mandals and Caste and Class Conflicts 

·        low- income households and Dalits faced additional problems related to the increasing mandal activities. 

·        They were further subdivided into committees to look after religious affairs, women’s welfare, running nurseries for children, etc. 

·        Each family had to spend between Rs 200 and Rs 400 as maintenance cost per month. 

·        donations for religious festivities were also collected from residents varying between Rs 100 and Rs 500. 

·        for families who survived hand-to-mouth, it was extremely challenging. 

 

 

 

Dalit Women and Their Social Life

·        Sanghamitra More’s(building no.62) experience with her Maratha neighbours. 

·         nobody celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti and there was no common place of worship. 

·        insistence on performing puja of goddesses Saraswati and Laxmi that upset many women including Sanghamitra. 

·        “they expected us to pray and bow to these goddesses… but this is not our culture or way of life to worship Hindu goddesses. Next time if you want “get-together” we would like to have photos of B R Ambedkar and Savitribai Phule.”

·        Hindu women tried to dominate by organising pujas and festivals and undertook activities that were suitable to Buddhist majority of building. 

 

Gender Struggles and Access to Public Space 

·        process of development, displacement and rehabilitation lead to gender bias and gender struggles making women the worst-affected victim. 

·        Previous studies on resettlement sites illustrate that the burden of collection of water invariably falls on women. 

·        relocation and its impact on women and their livelihoods is common across all castes, income groups, religions, and languages.

·        Most women had to give up their earlier jobs after relocation.

·        not the relocation alone but also lack of access to public transportation that resulted in forcing them to stay back at home without work 

 

No Loitering or Availing of Common Facilities

·        In the initial phase, use of public space within the site was largely restricted to men.

·        Common property resources such as the community halls, the streets, the housing society office and playgrounds were considered “masculine” spaces 

·        Women were not meant to be seen on the streets, except for the few who sold vegetables, fish or other petty groceries.

·         After dusk, women had no business being seen in such spaces. 

·         It is a general understanding among women that well- behaved and women of “good character” have no business to be on the streets or in any public space, but can participate in civic activities as long as it benefits the men. 

 

Casting Restrictions

·        This new mixed neighbourhood comprised people of different castes and religions, thus positing different kinds of challenges. 

·         Each community perceived men of the other community as predators and a threat to their women. This brought several restrictions on both women and particularly younger girls. 

·        restrictions and regulations were framed by parents who feared that their young girls might elope and marry outside their caste and religion 

·        fear of rape, molestation and sexual harassment.

·         Women and girls felt their earlier slums/neighbourhoods were much safer because of the familiarity. 

 

Politics of Urban Space and NGOs

 

·        Women vendors staying in Lallubhai Compound had to struggle to access public spaces to earn their livelihood. 

·        Street vending is one of the most visible sections of the informal sector 

·        they are harassed by the municipal and police officials who collect hafta (bribes) from them.

·         Such collections are estimated to amount to Rs 400 crore annually

·        there were only 15 to 20 women involved in vending who would sit in the morning and evening during the prime hours. 

·        women vendors exhibited their salesmanship as they were particularly attentive to the needs of other women 

·        NGO and some middle-income residents from Lallubhai Compound alleged that the bazaar was a great inconvenience to the commuters and caused congestion.

·        the middle-income residents, the NGO members and the authorities failed to see this as an activity that benefited both, the vendors and the buyers.

·        successfully evicted them from the streets and pushed them into the mandi, located at a distance. 

 

NGOs and Perceptions of Dalit Women

 

·        Factions were a result of the degree of closeness and access that certain house- holds/individuals had to influential individuals in the NGOs and within the civic authorities. 

·        Sandhya Rani Kumari regarded “influential”. 

·        A handful of dalit men were part of these housing committees due to the compulsions of showing diverse representation.

 

Issues of Exclusion 

 

·        The large presence of the Nadar, Yadav and Muslim women isolated the Marathi-speaking women who felt uncomfortable by the presence of both Muslim and Nadar women.

·        Women in leadership roles in the committees or elsewhere largely belonged to the Nadar community. 

·        the power of granting crisis loans was given to the “leader” who was often from the Muslim or Nadar community who were biased against 

·        Other groups. Such instances were responsible for alienating a large number of members who started doubting the system 

 

·        This NGO and its alliances were known for its “politics of accommodation, negotiation, and long-term pressures rather than of confrontation or threats of political reprisal” 

·        Issues over identity, representation and the declining role of the state are bigger threats and concerns than so-called participation from below, which continues to marginalise the historically marginalised women. 

 

Conclusion 

 

·        This study offers a microscopic insight into a peripheral and neglected resettlement site of Mumbai, a socio-spatial periphery created by larger violent processes of neo-liberal cities. 

·        Several hierarchies of caste and religion mark gender struggles 

·        The role of NGOs in urban governance has become significant. Though the finding of this study regards such NGOs as mediators of the state and brokers 

·        there is a need to understand the role of such NGOs from a critical perspective, considering the experiences of women and dalit women in particular.