A majority of slum dwellers living in Dhaka are believed to have been excluded from the slum census which began last month, despite Tk9.32 crore being allocated for the task.
The shoddy execution of this count is another example of the neglect shown to the rights of slum dwellers by authorities and policymakers. The census was intended to provide a platform for helping policymakers to recognise the concerns and rights of slum dwellers. Its poor implementation bodes poorly for the prospects of improving their living conditions.
Slums are the main housing available to the millions of working poor in the capital. Their residents are the engine behind our economic growth and deserve better recognition of their need for affordable, decent housing.
The unregulated, unplanned and often illegal development of slums denies basic sanitation, healthcare, and utilities to literally millions of people and exposes large numbers of residents to unacceptable hazards.
Even though the census is not complete, preliminary results do confirm familiar problems such as exploitation by landlords and lack of access to services.
The government should use the census to help it refocus policy to alleviate these concerns.
Overcentralised industrial development is the key driver for the concentration of working poor in and around the capital, and for the spread of slums.
Public policy has to include furthering plans to decentralise industry away from Dhaka. Improving communications and services to allow better planned developments on cheaper land will be the best way to reduce the growth of slums in the future.