3 NGOS to help the city’s poorest ward get Aadhaar, PAN
APNA ADDA, FIRST IN THE SERIES OF EVENTS, WILL BE HELD ON OCTOBER 21. IT WILL BE ORGANISED IN CHEMBUR BY NONGOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS APNALAYA, YUVA AND PRAJA
MUMBAI :At a time when citizenship discourse is dominating the public sphere in India, three organisations in Mumbai have collaborated to organise similar events in the poorest ward of Mumbai.
Apna Adda, first in the series of events, will be held on October 21. It will be organised in Chembur by non-government organisations (NGOS) Apnalaya, Yuva and Praja.
As per Apnalaya, which has been working in the slums of Shivaji Nagar for the past 30 years, members from 90,000 households do have an identity card such as Aadhaar, PAN or even a birth certificate.
The data has been compiled from Apnalaya’s report, Life on the Margin: Charting Realities, a study conducted in Shivaji Nagar.
“Around 13 lakh people in M-east ward are slum dwellers. If we extrapolate the data from Shivaji Nagar to the entire ward, the number is staggering. With no identity cards, these people will never get jobs in the formal sector or be able to avail basic facilities,” said Dr Arun Kumar, CEO, Apnalaya.
Data from the report revealed around 62% men and 54% women in Shivaji Nagar are labourers and lack documents to prove identity. This prevents them from availing bank loans. Among the 24 wards in Mumbai, M-east ranks the lowest in human development index (HDI). The average age of deceased in this ward, who succumb to poor living conditions, is 39.
Milind Mhaske, project co-ordinator at Praja, an organisation that works for active citizen participation in the city, said this interaction will be the first step towards availing basic civic amenities.
“Without earning the right to citizenship, one cannot demand good delivery of services,” he added.
Indian citizenship is acquired by birth, descent and registration. Recently, it has become a topic of debate after more than 40 lakh people in Assam risk losing their citizenship following the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC) updation.