Mumbai’s slums are India’s most literate

MUMBAI: Rajaram Lajrekar is a B.Com graduate and works as an auditor in a reputed company. On outstation assignments for his company, he stays in five star hotels. Here in Mumbai, he lives in a slum in Amboli, Andheri West.

Lajrekar’s eight-year-old son studies in St Blaise Convent School in Andheri and his wife is a cook, but with a monthly income of Rs7000, the family cannot afford a one-bedroom flat. Especially at a place that’s easily accessible from work. Keeping transport costs at a minimum is important, says Lajrekar. So, “living in Andheri in a slum is certainly better than living in Virar.”

With one of three slum dwellers in India living in Maharashtra, the state is the country’s slum capital. And Mumbai is the worst. According to the first ever official data on slums in India released by Census Commissioner and Registrar General of India, about 6.5 million people in the city, a whopping 54.04 per cent of its population, live in slums.

But surprisingly, at 69 per cent, Maharashtra’s slums have the highest literacy rate given the size of its slum population. Kerala is highest at 73 per cent but has a very small slum population; Tamil Nadu follows close behind at 68 per cent.

In addition, only 35 per cent of the slum dwellers are workers. Coupled with the high literacy, this is an indicator of the middle class identity of the slum population.

Talking about this trend, urban conservationist Harshad Bhatia says, “It is easier for people as running cost is low and the city does not offer housing mobility, means very high rents and a lack of choice. Low cost housing cannot solve the problem as the running cost invariably remain high and heavy repairs are needed as soon as after 10 years.”

Another fact the data highlights is the rapid spread of the slums to other cities of the state. Among 27 big cities in India where slums are assuming menacing proportions, seven are in Maharashtra - Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Nasik, Thane, Kalyan Dombivali and Pimpri Chinchwad.