Slum upgrading and women's empowerment: The experience in Titagarh,West Bengal

Abstract

Titagarh's slum upgrading experience demonstrates that social pressure and lobbying, particularly by women's groups, can be very effective in controlling rents, even when there is no legal contract between tenants and landlords. To inculcate a sense of ownership amongst the community, organisations were created to supervise the construction processes and the post-operation and maintenance of the assets created under the programme. Both tenants and landlords were represented in these community organisations. The paper raises two issues pertaining to the design of slum upgrading programmes. The first is that the designers of such programmes have not recognised that while a large number of the poor live in rental housing, there are also many suppliers of housing (i.e. landlords) among the poor. The programme designers perceived these poor communities as homogeneous groups, which meant that the community structures were created under the false perception that the ‘community’ had a common interest. Secondly, it explores the contribution that a community and women's groups in particular, can make towards retaining these assets so that they remain accessible to everyone, irrespective of whether they are tenants or landlords, and ensuring the post-operation and maintenance of these assets. However, in spite of the shortcomings in the design, the group formed in 21 Ward, under the programme, is still going strong and is now actively involved in the credit society which was initiated during the programme. The resulting financial empowerment goes a long way towards consolidating their position within their own families. This initiative has therefore lessened the burden on the municipality and will increase the lifespan of the services which will directly benefit the community. And this programme has shown how important it is to involve the community in implementing such projects.