Linked with Apnalaya, with Ankur, with SHACK, Slum Dwellers International SDI, with Women in Slums, an UN study, with W.O.M.E.N., with Hope in the slums: women’s work in Bangladesh, with Rethinking resettlement in Mumbai, with TERI The Energy and Resources Institute, with Nirbhay Bano Andolan, and with Mumbai pavement dwellers finally get their homes.
Also linked with Shanta Devi – India, and with Background-Report on Cities in Transition.
She says: “We lack political and economic will to make the necessary changes. Those in the ruling parties are apathetic because they personally never have to deal with the pds (Public Distribution System)” … “Many of the poorest people don’t even get cards because they don’t have documentation. And the government ensures that only Below Poverty Line (bpl) families rather than all poor people get free rations. Therefore, because we’ve drawn a faulty and unscientific poverty line, many poor people have to buy food at open-market prices. In the ration shops, the grain sold is adulterated and under-weighed; people don’t get their full quota; kerosene is diverted to the black market; and shopkeepers create bogus cards to keep this charade going. At every opportunity they tell cardholders that their quota hasn’t arrived.” (Tehelka).
List of Telefon numbers of NGOs working in Mumbai (August 20, 2006).
Read: Interview with Leena Joshi.
Leena Joshi – India
She works for Apnalaya (which has no direct own website, see this NGO through descriptions of other NGOs. See also some summary description on our NGO Blog).
Read: Report on Disaster Management Workshop on December 22, 2005, at the Times of India office in Mumbai. See here photos of this workshop.
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The problem: … Every day, 500 (new) migrant families come to the city, settling in areas like Andheri’s Ambedkar Nagar, Dharavi, Wadala’s slum pockets and South Mumbai’s Reay Road, all of which share the same basic features — makeshift houses, … (read the whole long article on Tehelka, August 05, 2006).
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Excerpt: … 5. Ashoka Trust (of which Shakil Ahmed, our activist, is a fellow) as well as other Ashoka Fellows like Colin Gonsalves (Human Rights Lawyer), Haseena Khan (women’s activist), Milind Ranade (activist for unorganized labour), Jyoti Mhapsekar (women’s activist), Leena Joshi (founder of Apnalaya which is working in slum areas), Rajeev George (housing rights activist) who constantly provide support and advice … (Read the whole on changemakers.net).
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Two newspaper excerpts to show what is the reality Leena Joshi has to deal with every day:
« Ever since I had laid the foundation stone for their hospital in Bangalore, Dr. Agarwal and other doctors in Chennai and Bangalore have so far operated over 300 poor persons from different parts of the country. The hospital sends me the photograph and the signature or thumb impression of each of the beneficiary under this scheme, » he said. About the school, he said, « I have adopted slum children of ‘Apnalaya’ school in Tardeo in Mumbai for over 11 years now. I have been taking care of their education, clothing and other expenses of about 250 children for a number of years now. Leena Joshi, Director of ‘Apnalaya’, expressed her gratitude for the cricketer, saying besides Tendulkar’s personal donations, the institution also benefitted from sponsors due to their association with the master batsman. (Red all on Indiatimes Cricket).
« Where is the municipal commissioner? Where is the health officer? If they are in their offices, their presence is not making any difference on the ground, » said Leena Joshi of Apnalaya, a voluntary agency that works on health issues among slum-dwellers close to city’s center. « True, the floods were caused by Mumbai receiving a record 94 centimeters of rainfall within 24 hours starting Tuesday afternoon, but the city’s waterways and creeks are capable of handling worse, except for the spate of construction activity and the even-greater amount of rubbish that is now being chucked into them daily ». (Read all on Asia Times).
links:
about Apnalaya, and also this site.
IndianNGOs.com: Homepage, and about Apnalaya;
flickr/photos, and mainly of the Apnalya Clinic;
ashoka, and on our NGO Blog;
Police Lathi Charge Slum People (Februar 2005);
His face looked the same and his neck still columnar as he lay on the funeral pyre, Leena Joshi remembers. Her neighbour’s body was covered and she couldn’t see his wounds … (Dec. 18, 2006).