City has 2nd largest poor populace in India
■ Poor live in 775 notified urban slums in Hyderabad ■ Indiranagar and Bushannagar have the largest concentrations
Hyderabad has the second largest population of urban poor in cities in India - 23 per cent.
This means out of 100 Hyderabadis, 23 are poor. Other major cities fare much better; the figure is eight per cent for Delhi, six per cent for Kolkata and 20 per cent for Chennai. Mumbai has the highest number of urban poor at 27 per cent.
The poor live in 775 notified urban slums in Hyderabad, with Indiranagar and Bushannagar having the largest concentrations. It’s a sobering thought that the growth of the urban poor in the city is directly proportionate to the economic growth of Hyderabad, reflected in the expansion of the information technology (IT) industry, manufacturing, integrated Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the film industry. Recently, real estate and construction activity has been playing a major role in economic development and employment generation. All this has attracted labour to the city.
Dr Narendar Reddy Chirra, consultant with a private social institute in Hyderabad that deals with issues of the urban poor, said that “around 8090 per cent of the migratory population is construction workers, and the remaining are domestic help.”
He said the number of urban poor has been increasing over a decade. Shelter, food and travel are not very expensive in Hyderabad which makes it possible for poor people to survive here.
Marri Aditya Reddy of the MCR Foundation that works in skill development says pro-poor policies and programmes exist and should reduce the numbers of people living below the poverty line, but these do not trickle down to the needy.
The poor are not registered in many government schemes and so don’t get to avail of the benefits.