ANKITA SINGLA (2K11/IT/013)DIVYANSHI VERMA (2K11/IT/027)NAUSHEEN AHMED (2K11/EC/094)SHIVANI (2K11/EC/147)WAIKHOM NYDIA (2K11/EC/172)

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT INTRODUCTION CONDITION OF SLUM & ITS DEVELOPMENT ROLE OF ENGINEERING IN IMPROVING THE WELFARE

OF SLUMS

o Communication Technology and Rural Development In India

o Socio-Cultural Perspectiveo Government Initiativeso Radio for Rural Development o Role of NSS in slum development

TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED FURTHER SUMMARY CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDMENT

The success and outcome of the project “ROLE OF ENGINEERING IN IMPROVING THE WELFARE OF SLUMS” would not have been satisfactory without the help of respected Ma’am Mrs. SEEMA SINGH.

We would like to show our deep gratitude towards her. We would like to thank her for giving us the opportunity to compile this project and help us understand the real scenario of engineering in our society.

Lastly, we would like to express our regards towards our friends and seniors who help us complete this project successfully on time.

Thanking you.

Signature

________________

(Seema Singh)

INTRODUCTION

A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the developing world between 1990 and 2005. However, due to rising population, and the rise especially in urban populations, the number of slum dwellers is rising. One billion people worldwide live in slums and the figure is projected to grow to 2 billion by 2030.

Development efforts of the past several decades have focused almost exclusively on the energy needs of the rural poor while largely ignoring those of extremely poor households in urban slums. About 40% of the World’s poor living in urban areas lack access to modern energy services that could improve living conditions and expand economic opportunities. Rapidly growing slums have overwhelmed most municipalities in developing countries, and many have ceased trying to address the problem of providing legal and safe connections to these areas. Nevertheless, even within the poorest slums, electricity is almost universally available.

2A closer look reveals that this electricity is usually stolen (largely by third-parties), which results in poor quality service provided at very high prices and extremely dangerous conditions. Faulty (and probably illegal) wiring or use of flammable energy alternatives when the power is cut off can cause devastating fires, destroying homes and displacing, killing, or injuring tens of thousands of people.

The picture that conjures up in our minds, when we talk about slums, is that of a dirty, unhygienic cluster of impoverished shanties with long lines of people crowding around a solitary municipal water tap, bowling babies literally left on street corners to fend for themselves and endless cries and found voices emanating from various corners. Most of them are

engaged in eking out their daily lives, always below the poverty line, by working as construction labourers, domestic helps, rag pickers and chhotus in neighbourhood dhabas. Though their living conditions are utterly unhygienic, gloomy, and dismal and dehumanized, many of them still dream of improving the quality of their lives. Many of the younger generation, irrespective of gender, income level and educational attainment express their regard for education and foresee upward social mobility for their children by educating their offspring as much as possible. Our slums are indeed very dingy, dark and dismal. But the dark clouds are now fading. They were encouraged to come to cities and work. People, who migrated to the cities and found work, brought their cousins and rest of the families to the cities. Conniving governments provided electricity and drinking water. Politicians looked at the slums as vote bank.

Recent years have seen a dramatic growth in the number of slums as urban populations have increased in the Third World. According to a recent UN-Habitat report, 327 million people live in slums in Commonwealth countries almost one in six Commonwealth citizens. In a quarter of Commonwealth countries (11 African, 2 Asian and 1 Pacific), more than two out of three urban dwellers live in slums, and many of these countries are urbanizing rapidly.

CONDITIONS OF SLUM & ITS DEVELOPMENT

Lack of sanitary conditions

Poor sanitary conditions and poor quality of water lead to illnesses like diarrhoea and other water borne diseases, affecting the life expectancy of slum dwellers. According to a recent case study, water and sanitation diseases are responsible

for 60 per cent of environmental health. Among water borne diseases, diarrhoea disproportionately affects children under the age of five. Poor health among children adversely affects the attendance rate at schools. In dense, overcrowded urban conditions it is often difficult for people to find space to build latrines. Many have to defecate in the open or share whatever limited facilities are available which tend to offer no privacy, safety or hygiene.

Child labour

Many children in the slums start work at a very early age with no prospect of getting any education. They make money by rag picking (trawling through rubbish dumps to retrieve anything that can be sold), selling newspapers in traffic jams, peddling drugs or begging. They are at risk of exploitation as well as all the health problems that accompany

their lifestyles. Incest and abuse can occur and child marriages are still encouraged in some areas.

Internal and external corruption

Some people manage to achieve a high status within slums and establish themselves as slumlords. They are often allies of certain politicians and gain control of sizeable chunks of the community land. By renting out the land, they make huge financial gains while everyone living in the slum struggles to survive on their meagre earnings. The slumlords form elaborate links with local politicians, government officials and the police, and slum dwellers become dependent on them for the smallest of amenities. They have little empathy with the slum residents and exploit them by charging highly inflated prices for illegal electricity and water supplies or for constructing huts.

Gender Inequality

Female babies in the slums of India can face discrimination and poor treatment from their very first moments, if they are given a chance of life at all; although gender specific abortion is illegal in India, it is still practiced in some places.

Children born into the deprived and harsh environment of the slums may not be as fortunate, but male babies are still given better treatment than the girls. In

contrast, girls are seen as a drain on precious resources as they will one day get married and their contribution towards the family will end.

The sheer volume of people living in slums causes them to be obvious targets for politicians wanting to increase their percentage of the vote.

TRADITIONAL APPROACHES DO NOT WORK

The traditional approach to electricity service for poor consumers involves three stakeholders: the government, the electricity company, and the low-income resident. In slum communities, this approach fails on all sides due to the social and economic conditions and governance structures unique to slum areas. In slums, most transactions are informal and, therefore, not regulated or controlled by the government. Because governments may be reluctant to recognize the illegal settlements and promote their permanent establishment, they do not enforce rules that would normally govern the development of a legally settled or subdivided area. Most services normally available to legally constituted and occupied areas are not legally available in slums. Informal systems grow in response to essential needs, such as water and electricity, and the isolated and informal nature of slums makes it possible for criminals to provide illegal services.Electricity suppliers have low revenue expectations relative to the high costs of service provision in slum areas. Revenues are typically low and often sporadic, even without theft, because poor households cannot afford to purchase large amounts of energy even at subsidized prices.0Electricity companies also face very challenging physical conditions and tenure issues in slums that are unlike those encountered in formal, legal settlements. Given that many slums consist of squatters who do not have land tenure, the electricity company faces difficult legal issues in providing service, including the lack of a means

to obtain right-of-way for distribution system equipment. The very narrow streets and alleys typical in slums greatly impede traditionA value judgment is not implied by using the word “slum,” which can be either legally constituted urban areas or spontaneous communities of squatters that lack a legal basis for their occupancy.Even where electricity is available, evidence shows that 15-300% of residents do not have any connection to electricity, legal or illegal.Innovative Approaches to Slum Electrification approaches to electrification and raise the cost of serving the areas. Physical safety of personnel and equipment, liability and compensation issues, and standardization of installation packages present additional challenges.Internet initiatives for rural development need to be approached with a degree of caution. One cannot expect less privileged farmers and food-insecure residents of rural communities to list computers and digital telecommunication services as high-priority items for improving their lives. However, there are various intermediaries serving these populations which, together with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas, could take advantage of these technologies to improve their work, improve communication capacity, gain efficiencies and reduce telecommunication costs. With SMEs, intermediary organizations such as extension field offices, rural NGOs, health clinics, government satellite offices and church organizations can offer communication services in numerous ways. Strategies for improving access to the Internet and use for rural development will necessarily involve the full participation of intermediary organizations and other rural stakeholders

.

Development of Slums | Five elements lacking in Slums

The percentage of Development of Slums is always seen higher in developing countries. Since they are people with very low income or no income at all, finding a place to live in is a challenge for them. A slum area is always underdeveloped, unhygienic and lacks important elements that are required for a hygienic and healthy living.

Five elements which slums lack:

1. Access to improved water2. Access to improved sanitation3. Security of tenure4. Durability of housing5. Sufficient housing Area

Slum areas do not have any proper arrangement for drinking water purposes or for any other usage. They try to get water from places that are highly unhygienic but they are left with no other choice. Unhygienic sanitation system is another critical problem. The diseases that breed in unhygienic conditions are developing very rapidly in slum areas. The Government should provide an excreta disposal system especially designed for slum areas. This could be done by providing a disposal waste system either in the form of a private toilet or a public toilet shared with a reasonable number of

people.

People staying in slums always have that insecurity of being thrown away from the land where they are staying. Slum eradication measures should be taken by the government but in a positive way. It has been seen that the materials that are used by the people in the slums for the construction of their houses is all trash wastage that is hazardous to the environment. They go to dump yards and gather different materials for their home construction. The materials don’t last long and also prove hazardous to the society. Therefore, usage of non-hazardous building materials should be encouraged. For that reason, the materials should be made available to them at cheaper costs or the Government must bear the expenses for the housing of the poor. The Government should provide sufficient living space for these people.

ROLE OF ENGINEERING IN IMPROVING THE WELFARE OF SLUMS

There are several engineer types, some of which are more needed than others. For instance you may choose to become an electrical engineer, focusing on the creation of power grids, turbines, solar panels, and any number of other devices that will eventually serve to further the human race. There are also computer engineers who focus their skills on the creation of new circuits, processors, and even computer components such as hard drives.

What we are essentially saying here is that engineering jobs are those which shape the way in which we live our lives. The electronics used within the vehicles we drive, and even the aeroplanes that take us to various locations across the globe.

As you can see, the role of an engineer is unending and new roles are being uncovered every day. You may be amazed to find out just what engineering has contributed to your life, and the ways in which it has been improved.

Whether you choose to pursue a job in engineering or not, you now know just what an engineer can do for the world, and if you do choose to become one, you will be contributing to one of the finest traditions known to man. Once you truly understand what an engineer is, you will see the world in an entirely new light, and you may even come to appreciate it much more. Remember, everything becomes possible through engineering! 

Communication Technology and Rural Development In India :

Development, as a process meant to empower the poor, reduceexploitation, and oppression by those having economic, social, and political power. It also means an equitable sharing of resources, improved healthcare and education for all.

One of the major components and driving force of rural developmentis communication. Conventionally, communication includes electronic media, human communication & now information technology (IT). Persuasive communication for rural development has been given highest priority for bringing about desirable social and behavioural change among the most vulnerable rural poor and women.

Technological changes further compounded the direction of ruraldevelopment as information and communication technology (ICT) hasbeen thought by communication and development workers as a panaceafor other ills that obstructs the development process. It has lead toindiscriminate applications and use of ICT in every aspect of informationdissemination, management & governance of development.

Socio-Cultural Perspective:

The existing sharp divide between the small but economically, politically and socially “rich elite ruling class” and a very big but “economically poor and socially deprived” continue to

persist as a legacy of the past. While the rich elite has had access to knowledge, both oral and written, the economically poor remained confined only to oral knowledge. Privatisation of education has further helped the rich elite to dominate the contemporary social and political scene at the cost of the poor who remain oblivious of communication technology for any improvement in their existing miserable life.

The rural development projects broadly followed an “extension model” in which broadcast media were used to reach the large rural population or target groups. In the post economic liberalisation period, rural development projects added information and communication technology (ICT) to provide individual need-based information in broad development areas through Internet. In the post economic liberalization phase without abandoning the extension model “social marketing approach” to rural development has been adopted.

Government Initiatives:

After independence, the government took upon itself the majorresponsibility of development. Hence, the central and state governmentscarried out development projects. Some of them are described below.

Radio for Rural Development :

Popularly known as “Radio Farm Forum” was one of the earliest efforts in the use of radio for rural development. The experiment was carried out from February to April 1956 in five districts of Maharashtra State by All India Radio (AIR). Rural listener groups were organized, who would listen to radio broadcasts twice a week at 6.30 p.m. for half an hour. The summative impact evaluation indicated positive outcome of radio rural forum. Impressive knowledge gains as a result of

radio listening were reported across illiterates and literates, agriculturists and non-agriculturists, village leaders and others. However, over a period of time the project withered away. Lack of political will and indifference of bureaucracy killed the rural development project even before it could help poor to take advantage of radio broadcast.

Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE):

It is considered to be one of the biggest techno-social communication experiments in education and rural development. The one-year experiment (August 1975 – July 1976) aimed to provide direct broadcasting of instructional and educational television in 2400 villages in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan. Over 500 conventional television sets spread over 335 villages in Kheda district, Gujarat was also part of SITE.SITE provided telecast for rural primary school children in the agegroup 5 - 12 years studying in grades 1-5. Rural adults viewedtelevision programmes on improved agricultural practices, health andfamily planning. They were also able to view news. Television wasconsidered as window to the world. The telecast reliability was above 99per cent during the experiment period. Both quantitative (survey) and qualitative in-depth (anthropological holistic study) evaluation indicated modest gains in some areas, whereas no gain or negative gain in other areas. Based on the experiences and positive gains, INSAT satellite was launched in 1981. Since then a series of INSAT satellites have been launched and used for nationwide television telecast for education and development.

Post Media Liberalisation Approach to Rural Development:

The post media liberalisation phase, communication has been furtherRe-emphasized and recognised as “missing link” in achieving development objectives.

Almost all healthcare projects for rural poor, especially women andchildren have used demand driven social marketing approach for ruralthe development. At the same time, communication convergence, especially of media and Internet, opened up the possibility of individualised non-broadcast communication. Launch of “Kisan Call Centres” and an exclusive “Farmer Television Channel” are examples of social marketing approach for rural development. Community Radio Initiative: In post media liberalisation phase,Government of India, announced the policy for community radiobroadcasting. “Community radio is expected to focus on issues relatingto education, health, environment, agriculture, rural and communitydevelopment”. Country’s first community radio station became operational onFebruary 1, 2004 at Anna University, Chennai.Another “cable” community radio station, named as Namma Dhwani or Our Voices’ was set up earlier in Boodikote, Karnataka. The villagersbelieve that “This radio station is ours because it speaks about us - in ourlanguage and in our accent”.

‘Kunjal Panje Kutchji’ is an interactive and participative development communication project. It is also the first time

that a voluntary organisation, the Bhuj-based Kutch Mahila Vikas Sansthan (KMVS), has bought airtime on the radio as part of its communication strategy. The serial is broadcast on commercial time with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) support.‘Kunjal Panje Kutchji’ has also focused on capacity building for electedwomen in panchayats on development issues.

Community Television: Since the inception of INSAT satellite television system, Doordarshan achieved a kind of world record in setting up over 1000 low powered television transmission stations in the country. Each station in theory was supposed to telecast local television programme for rural development. A large number of television professional were trained for this purpose. Doordarshan has been planning to introduce local television for rural poor and farmers to achieve the goals of rural development.

Information and Communication Technology and e-Governance for Rural Development

Introduction

Rural e-Governance applications in the recent past have demonstrated the important role the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play in the realm of rural development. Several e-Governance projects have attempted to improve the reach, enhance the base, minimize the processing costs, increase transparency, and reduce the cycle times. Several states have initiated the creation of State Wide Area Networks (SWAN) to facilitate electronic access of the state and district administration services to the citizens in villages.

However, a large number of rural ICT applications have slipped in performance and are facing acute problems of sustenance after their successful launch by the dynamic

project champions. Some of the important observations by CEG-IIMA based on its evaluations ofsome of these projects and the experiences on developing proof-of-concept projects are:

Design of citizen-centric services and dependable service delivery mechanisms.

Selection of appropriate (dependable, maintainable and cost effective) technologies for rural connectivity and information processing solutions.

Design of cost-effective delivery stations (kiosks) to enable private entrepreneurs operate the services profitably and build new services for sustainability

Re-engineering of back-end processes and introduction of changes that take advantage of the storage, processing and distribution powers of the emerging ICTs

Ensuring employee participation with well designed change management processes

Demonstration of transparency and efficiency to remove distrust and build confidence among the citizens on the functioning of service delivery mechanisms.

Inviting private participation to reduce the burden on the central servicing agency, bring in the expertise, enhance the speed of implementation, and offer better value proposition to the citizens.

Identifying and preparing project champions, ensuring appropriate tenures, facilitating smooth transition, and internalization of the changed procedures.

The rural ICT solutions are normally offered through internet portals hosted on a delivery web server to provide access to the citizens through inexpensive internet medium. The information flow between the delivery server and the other departments is accomplished through Intranet / LAN connectivity with servers of those departments (if exist). Often, due

to non-computerization of back-end systems, the transactions are manually exchanged and response data is keyed in manually through the nodes on the delivery server. It may be noticed that the end-to-end connectivity between the central service providers (district administrations, cooperative unions etc.) and the citizens is accomplished through a number of stages involving several agencies. Success of any rural ICT solution depends on how well these stages are coordinated and managed.

ICT Availability for Rural Applications

Service Delivery:

It is expected that most of the rural ICT applications are meant for socially and economically backward communities. Therefore the service delivery mechanisms must be aligned to this fact. These kiosks must be located in the areas convenient to them to approach and use. The kiosk operators must communicate well with the citizens and cordially deliver the services. The ambience of service delivery locations is very important. They must be clean, with provisions of drinking water and toilet for ladies and gents separately, to attract the citizens of all communities and genders. There must be a system of record keeping measuring the service utilization and service quality. Periodical reviews are important to monitor and improve the quality of service.

Private Participation:

Almost all rural e-Government project champions have found it convenient to involve different private agencies for different tasks through appropriate public-private-partnership (PPP) contractual arrangements. These tasks include design and development of application software, population of data and content in the regional language, procurement and installation of networking and computer systems, deployment of software and delivery of services. Such arrangement seems to have helped in reducing the burden on the government, brought in the expertise, enhanced the speed of implementation, and offered better value proposition to the citizens.The private participation in these applications is likely to put very sensitive and valuable data in the hands of the private agencies. Proper judiciary mechanisms will have to be worked out and put in place before the services are launched, to ensure that no injustice isdone to the citizens by misuse of such data.

Capacity Building:

A large number of people at various levels have to be trained on the changed environment with ICT applications to meet the citizen expectations. It is desirable for the governments to organize special training programmes which provide formal inputs on the planning and implementation of ICT systems in government.It is equally important to ensure appropriate tenures for project champions to facilitate smooth transition, and internalization of the changed procedures. All functionaries of the government departments need undergo training on behavioral issues involving themselves, citizens, and private agencies. It is important that they are trained to accept the changed transparent environment facilitated through ICT based processing, minimizing the paper transactions and reducing cycle time.

Based on these observations and other experiences, we consider the following as major factors responsible for successful implementation and sustenance of ICT projects for social development:• Degree of efficiency and transparency demonstrated in citizen services• Extent of reduction in cost and improvement of convenience for citizens• Extent of reengineering and improvement of back-end services• Extent of Integration of backend processes with front-end and web site• Degree of employee involvement and change management• Amenability for Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement• Strength of PPP arrangement in the application development• Strength of PPP arrangement in the service delivery• Enhancement of Revenue for the government and the service provider• Technological robustness of the project

Role of NSS in slum development

NSS volunteers generally work with villages, slums and voluntary agencies to complete 120 hours of regular activities during an academic year.It is of vital importance that a particular village/slum is selected for implementation of NSS programmes.

The slum, tenements, Jhuggis and Jhoupris can be adopted by the NSS units with the aim of slum improvement and check its spread. Under this, activities like providing water, water logging, sanitation, electricity, drainage, health and welfare services, life and living conditions, can be undertaken.

Following are the tasks which the students can undertake in slum areas:-

(a) As Community Investigators: They can prepare brief community profile on various slums in the city or town covering different amenities, services, and living conditions etc.

(b) As Community Workers: They can identify local leaders and in cooperation with them discuss local problems on which cooperative action can be initiated.

(c) As Programme Aides: Students can help the local communities' in launching a number of programmes like setting up a free milk distribution centre, sanitation drive, recreation, adult lad primary education, health projects like immunization. first aid centre, child care, nutrition classes, and free legal aid centres etc.

They can also help in forming youth clubs, children's groups, mahila mandals etc.

(d) As Community Organizers: NSS students, after establishing rapport with the slum dwellers, can form community association to tackle local problems on a group basis with reliance on local resources, self help and mutual aid and with some minimum external  

TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED

PALM METHODS OF IMPROVING WALFARE OF SLUM

Resource mapping

Resource maps can help to depict the relationships between households of different socio-economic groups and resources; facilitate community identification of problems and solutions on the basis of this visual presentation; and illustrate access to and control of resources within the community.

Approach

Firstly, the slum is mapped onto the ground, a wall or a chart. This is done separately with men’s, women’s and/or mixed groups in order to achieve different perspectives. Secondly, community resources are identified together with their access, management and control. Such resources may include balwadis (preschools), community centres, pipes, drainage, electricity, paved roads and health services. The location of other common resources is also highlighted as well as the residence of neighbourhood committee members. Mapping can also be used to learn many other things about the community such as:

· The range of caste, religious and language groups within the settlement;

· Occupations of men and women, girls and boys;

· Links with villages ;

· Income levels;

· Education levels;

· Employment and skills;

· Health issues such as the use of permanent and temporary contraception;

· Women-headed households, widowed women, deserted wives;

· Violence against women; and,

· Access to income, resources and services.

In one area we even attempted to identify prostitutes, but found this too sensitive an issue to pursue. However, liquor brewing and selling emerged as important informal sector

activities among women -a very good example of an activity normally invisible to community development staff but which can be identified using PALM techniques. The resource map can lead to discussions on the lack of services, drainage, overcrowding, cramped living conditions, disposal of solid and liquid waste, or lack of safe and adequate water supply. Similarly it is an extremely useful tool for identifying and discussing issues which specifically affect women, such as pressures on women-headed households, women’s enterprises, access to income resources, credit and services, and economic, social and cultural pressures on girls and women.

Seasonal calendars and activity schedules

These can help to identify seasonally occurring events and constraints (e.g. drinking water availability, drainage blocks, labour availability, income, food intake, illness etc.). They are also useful for learning about men and women’s workloads in different seasons and relationships to factors such as income, food intake and sickness. The seasonal calendar can also be used to work out possible engineering, health and community development solutions.

Approach

The months of the year are marked on the ground using stones or other counters. Events are marked by using locally available seeds stones, sticks, flowers and leaves. This can be done with single-sex, mixed or interest-specific groups. A similar tool is the daily activity schedule which identifies household responsibilities on an hourly basis and can highlight gender divisions of labour. The seasonal calendar and daily activity schedule exercise can also reveal specific problems such as the provision of appropriately timed childcare facilities .However, as with all PALM techniques, much depends on the facilitator’s ability to build on the information arising out of discussions.

Focus group discussions

Small group discussions held with a facilitator can explore issues in further depth. Keeping groups small helps to ensure that everybody participates in the discussion. For example, meetings could be held with occupational groups such as potters, dhobis, beedi (tobacco) workers and rag pickers in order to provide each with the opportunity to express their specific occupational concerns in relation to particular issues such as space requirements, water supply and rubbish disposal. Similar group meetings can be arranged by gender, age group and language group.

Wealth and well-being ranking

Wealth ranking identifies the different socio-economic characteristics of households in a given slum area. There are a number of approaches. Using the resource map, household names can be listed on cards and community representatives encouraged deciding their own criteria for ranking households by wealth and well-being into four or five groups. Alternatively, all households in a given slum are ranked from first to last according to their relative wealth. Different colours could also be used on the resource map itself to mark different levels of well-being. Criteria for assessing well-being may include the presence of able-bodied adult men (without ‘vices’); presence of women providing supplementary household income; school attendance; debt; health problems.

Trend analyses

Trend analyses highlight changes in a community over time. By talking to old people in the slum, changes in factors such as education, employment, income, access to credit, drinking water, drainage, infrastructure, housing, population, health practices and social customs can be marked on the ground

using locally available materials. The period over which factors are discussed is normally 20-40 years depending on the age of the informants. We have found this very useful in many slum areas as a way of learning about pressure for space and resources.

Venn diagrams

The aims of Venn diagramming techniques are to learn about the relationship between the community and government departments, or relationships between individuals within the community; to raise awareness amongst different informants about their access to resources and the presence of social restrictions and to illustrate the differing perceptions of different informants. Circles of various sizes are cut out and given to participants, who first choose a circle to represent their community and then other circles to indicate the significance or scope of other important people and institutions. The size of the circles and the distance between circles show the perceived relationship between the community and the individuals/institutions. The use of this technique has been particularly helpful for understanding how access to resources and preferences for services differ between informants. Venn diagramming also helps to identify the existing relationship between community development staff and various informants.

Matrix ranking

Matrices have a wide variety of applications, but one use is to help evaluate various development programmes in terms of their success in addressing the practical and strategic needs of men and women. The matrix is drawn on the ground using locally available materials. Two factors, for example disease and health practice, can be related together. The matrix can be used for discussion and planning purposes - for example in designing an appropriate income generation programme,

discussing healthy food practices, ecologically sound fuel usage or sustainable health practices.

SUMMARY

A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the developing world between 1990 and 2005. However, due to rising population, and the rise especially in urban populations, the number of slum dwellers is rising. One billion people worldwide live in slums and the figure is projected to grow to 2 billion by 2030.

CONDITIONS OF SLUM:

Lack of sanitary conditions Child labour Internal and external corruption Gender Inequality

ROLE OF ENGINEERING IN IMPROVING THE WELFARE OF SLUMS

There are several engineer types, for instance you may choose to become an electrical engineer, focusing on the creation of power grids, turbines, solar panels, and any number of other devices that will eventually serve to further the human race. There are also computer engineers who focus their skills on the creation of new circuits, processors, and even computer components such as hard drives. The role of an engineer is unending and new roles are being uncovered every day.

PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN BY ENGINEERS FOR THE UPLIFTMENT OF SLUM AREA:

Communication Technology and Rural Development in India:

Government Initiatives:

After independence, the government took upon itself the majorResponsibility of development. Hence, the central and state governmentsCarried out development projects. Some of them are described below.

Radio for Rural Development Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE)

Community Television

Information and Communication Technology and e-Governance for Rural Development

Rural e-Governance applications in the recent past have demonstrated the important role the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play in the realm of rural development. Several e-Governance projects have attempted to improve the reach, enhance the base, minimize the processing costs, increase transparency, and reduce the cycle times.

ICT Availability for Rural Applications

Service Delivery Private Participation Capacity Building

Role of NSS in slum development

NSS volunteers generally work with villages, slums and voluntary agencies to complete 120 hours of regular activities during an academic year. It is of vital importance that a particular village/slum is selected for implementation of NSS programmes.

TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED

Resource mapping Seasonal calendars and activity schedules Focus group discussions Wealth and well-being ranking Trend analyses Venn diagrams Matrix ranking

CONCLUSION

 Slums are not 'problems' that have to be 'solved' - but are indeed results of lopsided and vested urban policies covering land ownership, infrastructure provision and maintenance, and other socio-economic issues. And for the poor, they represent a solution.  The need of the hour is to find light in the darkest of the dark scenario and infuse life in the lives that are still waiting for the silver lining.

Poverty, slums and urban squat can be controlled in next couple of decades. Reversal of this phenomenon will begin after sufficient economic progress had been made. Eight percent GDP growths is a good sign. With quadrupled GDP in 25 years, there is a good chance that the new and upcoming generation may stay away from slum dwelling. It may take another 25 years before the slums are vacated. The problems prevailing in slums give us the challenge to rebuild a society that is more equitable where equal opportunities could be provided to all for living with dignity. Many hurdles have to be overcome to achieve this objective.

The despair of the underprivileged has to be replaced with hope, their fear with security, and their ignorance with knowledge. Give them the opportunity to secure good health, immunity from curable diseases, employment opportunities, sufficient and nutritious food, clean water and a clean environment, capability to protect their children against exploitation and discrimination. Their children should have the right to get adequate education for becoming responsible citizens of India.  Slum dwellers should be empowered to enable them to improve the quality of their own lives

Corruption and political manipulation are still a problem in the slums, but a glimpse of hope can be found in technological solutions provided in this report. It is a hope that future generations, especially the young people of the slums, will live to tell about the difference made by technology and the extra power it gave them to improve their living conditions in more effective ways than their parents could.

BIBLIOGRAPHY www.academia.edu www.ewb-uk.org www.researchgate.net www.engineeringchallenges.org www.google.com www.wikipedia.com