No other population is so much a part of our lives, whose absence can so affect our lifestyle, and yet is so shockingly invisible to policy as the urban poor. In just the latest reminder of this invisibility, in this election campaign the urban poor — our domestic helps, labourers, street vendors — have received no specific attention, for example, in party manifestos. Even as two leading parties accuse each other of copying manifestos, it is clear that no memorable catchphrase fits the urban poor, neither “aam aadmi” nor “India Shining.”

When nearly 100 million urban dwellers in India are estimated to be poor, (which is about one-tenth of the country’s population and more than the population of many countries), one would expect them to be paid due attention. The urban poor are part of the colossal growth in urbanisation that India is experiencing; numbers are projected to swell to 200 million by 2020. They remain largely unserved by basic healthcare services. Yet, if we look through the major parties’ election manifestos, while the rural poor are mentioned as a classified group — and agriculture, housing and health concerns have been addressed — the urban poor do not merit dedicated focus. This is disappointing. (One party mentions urban programmes it kick-started while another just touches upon poverty among slum dwellers.)

There seems to be insufficient understanding of the vulnerability of the urban poor and of their health and nutrition needs. Most of the urban poor are residents of slums, many of them unlisted. This puts them beyond the pale of government healthcare services, as residents of unlisted slums face the threat of eviction and prefer to remain unnoticed. Migration and mobility are also factors; cost, timings, and factors like lack of confidence in accessing healthcare services put secondary care and private-sector facilities out of their reach.

... contd.