Indian slums

Older, more established slums, where residents have
formed cohesive communities such as Dariba Kalan in Delhi,
have erupted into riots in the face of government efforts to
tear them down, even when the government has offered to
resettle the displaced people, the press statement said.

During his research, Jha found that how the slums are
run depends on a variety of factors, such as their ethnic
makeup, political connections, and how long they have been
established.

Newer slums often have it particularly tough, he said,
because they might have neither the political clout to avoid
being torn down by the government nor the infrastructure to
help protect residents from fire and the theft of personal
items. They also may lack the internal leadership to fend off
these threats, the report said.

Key to running many slums, however, are pradhans, the
areas' informal leaders, who often can call on political
influence to help their neighbourhoods. The study described
one unnamed slum run by a former domestic servant of a
mainstream political party's leader.

"She basically ran the show for 20 years," Jha said.
But that all changed when a rival party gained power. "Her
political connections were with the wrong party."

Some new slums, occupied by a single major ethnic
group, can gain political clout because they are more likely
to follow one set of leaders, who can then promise politicians
clusters of votes. "When leadership is less clear, that can be
really detrimental," he said. PTI