The skirmish over non-disposal of waste in Delhi in May 2015 opens up bigger questions about the state-municipal relation over funds allocation and disbursement.
The relocation of small-scale industrial units that do not conform to pollution standards is not a long-term sustainable solution. The regulating authority should create conditions conducive to innovation and help in the identification of cost-effective ways of dealing with the problem.
In India, the 'urban bias' in public spending on healthcare services has been pointed out by a number of studies. Even within urban areas, especially in the big cities, the slum population is particularly underprivileged. This study examines the patterns of morbidity and healthcare utilisation by the urban poor living in slums and resettlement colonies in Delhi and Chennai, and compares the health status of the two segments.
This essay is a micro-empirical study of the daily labour market in Delhi. Based on a sample of workers from the job 'squares' in the city, it shows that the labourers in this market represent pauperisation of the peasantry rather than a migration of choice for better wages. Almost none of the workers possessed any awareness of the labour department of the state government, or about unions. Also, most of the labourers had no rational expectation of a formal sector job.
Geographic and Planning Research Themes for the New Millennium edited by Allen G Noble, A S Mukherjee, Baleshwar Thakur and Frank J Costa; Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 2000, Rs 495, pp 480.
