Human Rights office takes the sacrifice of a slum in Lucknow

Human Rights office takes the sacrifice of a slum in Lucknow

In preparation for the inauguration of the Human Rights Commission Office in Vibhuti Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow by the Governor (behind Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, next to Indian Oil office) on 29 September 2009, the authorities have demolished the Gandhi Nagar Ward slum in which about a hundred families lived.

Most of them were 'dholak' manufacturers from Gonda District and stone cutters from UP. This slum was located on the adjacent piece of land on which the Human Rights Commission Office is supposed to come up. "Was it really necessary to demolish this slum merely because the Governor has to make an appearance momentarily on the adjacent piece of land?" said noted social activist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) Dr Sandeep Pandey. Dr Pandey is also the national convener of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM).

On the other hand these families living in the slum, and thousands still to continue to live this way, are not being accommodated in the much publicised housing schemes for the poor, both central and state. "One wonders who is availing the benefit of these housing schemes - the Basic Services for Urban Poor of central government and the "Kanshiram Shahri Garib Awas Yojana of the state government and what happened to the funds allocated for these schemes?" asks Dr Sandeep Pandey.

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