12/13/2016

Earlystepsneededtoaddressurbanpoverty

Early steps needed to

address urban poverty
Published: 22:00, Dec 13,2016

RESULTS of a survey on slum children in cities, made public in Dhaka on

Sunday, are indeed worrying. The survey carried out by the Associates of
Community and Population Research in FebruaryMarch found, as New Age
reported on Monday, that 26 per cent of slum children aged below 5 were
stunted while 20 per cent were severely wasted. It also reveals that eight in
every 10 urban children aged 114, or 82 per cent, experienced psychological
aggression or physical punishment, which is detrimental to the natural growth,
physical and mental, of the children. Moreover, victims of such cruelties are said
to be more likely than others to engage in similar inhuman activities in their
adult years, posing a threat to social values and order. Slum children aged 517
are, meanwhile, engaged in income-generating activities and the rate is double
or about 23 per cent in comparison with non-slum children. The number of
incidents of early marriage in slums is high as well. All this indicates that slum
children lag behind non-slum children in terms of access to education, having
huge implications for their efforts to get prepared for decent jobs in their adult
life.
It is important to note that malnutrition generally has adverse impact on
productivity, which is related to the livelihood. In this context, as we mentioned
in these columns earlier on several occasions, the stunted and wasted slum
children are likely to fall behind those who are not so in terms of earning even
if both the groups are engaged in similar jobs. Overall, if the situation, in which
the study at hand found the urban slum children, is allowed to continue, the
gap between the slum and the non-slum children will continue to widen. One
needs to remember that the discrimination between slum and non-slum children
takes place at a time when both the groups are included in the poor and
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12/13/2016

Earlystepsneededtoaddressurbanpoverty

marginalised group, which has less access to rights compared with those
belonging to the affluent section of society. In short, slum children are now
facing double discrimination which not only is an affront to the constitution but
may also end up posing an increased threat to social stability.
Ironically, all this took place at a time when economic opportunities are more in
cities than in rural areas. At the same time, government allocations for social
safety net and social protection programmes that include improving access of
the poor to health and education, in particular, have seen a significant rise in
recent years. In fact, it is the fallout of the governments failure to pursue a
balanced development policy as its development programmes have so far largely
failed to cover the urban poor. The government is expected to take note of the
survey findings without any delay and come up with effective steps to address
the situation. Conscious sections of society also need to raise their voice against
the discriminations.

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