Slum Redevelopment: What Would This Mean For Low Income Homes in Delhi?

Soon, the slums in Delhi as you know them might change. They might organize themselves better and people living in them as second-class citizens in the national capital might assert themselves a lot better. All of this can happen, when the Delhi government starts implementing the slum redevelopment plan it announced recently.

As part of the plan, the government plans to spend Rs 1,793 crore on homes and urban development in Delhi. As part of the policy, JJ clusters will be developed and unauthorized colonies will be regularized. This will be facilitated by soon-to-framed guidelines from the government on registration of the properties in illegal colonies.

The government plans to use the existing land in Delhi in unauthorized colonies as well as the existing dwelling units to provide homes for slum dwellers.

How will this plan help people who live in slums and the challenges such schemes might face? Here is a lowdown:

1. The government will allow slum dwellers to register their properties and transfer or sell their assets legally as part of the plan. This is more important than it is often realized. Eminent economist Hernando de Soto has often pointed out that a major problem that affects low income individuals in developing countries is that they do not have legal titles to their unauthorized plots. When they do not have legal titles, it is difficult to engage in property transactions.

2. When slum dwellers have legal titles to their property, they need not fear that their property in Delhi would be demolished. Without fear, they are more likely to build pucca structures.

3. When their have legal rights over their property, slum dwellers can mortgage their property to obtain loans from banks and financial institutions.

4. The government will also build basic infrastructure in those colonies. Often, the cost of building infrastructure is far less than the value of the land better infrastructure unlocks for development and trade. But, at times, infrastructure is built without much deliberation.

However, the flip side is:

1. Legalizing unauthorized encroachments and properties in slums is still not the most efficient way to give legal titles to low income individuals. Often, governments are not likely to carry out the process fairly and justly. But, this is still a huge improvement over the status quo.

2. Slum rehabilitation and redevelopment schemes are extraordinarily difficult to implement.  For instance, in Mumbai Property, there were great delays in completing such projects. The state government found it difficult to impose standards of quality in redevelopment and rehabilitation.