Alleviating “Visual Poverty”

“Visual Poverty”, is something we see everyday in India, it is “in your face”, and like a nagging ache, we are de-sensitized to it, to the point, these people are transparent to us and they have been intellectualized to “not exist”.

Urban Poverty is concentrated in slums and spills over into the city streets. Rural “Visual Poverty” exists on the periphery of India’s highways. Travel around the country and you see people living in tents in rural areas, with no water and sanitation facilities. Rural “Visual Poverty” is dispersed. At the very least, if what we see can be addressed, we would make significant progress. This does not address the plight of the millions who live below the Poverty Line in remote Rural India. That is a different problem all together and would require a different set of solutions.

In Urban India, the most obvious and the biggest issue facing the poor is housing & sanitation, even if it means a cot in a hall and a cupboard for the working poor, who sleep on the street, for there is no sheltered place or spot they can rent. The solution for Urban India, is a program that provides a “Sheltered Place for Every Budget”. This could be low-income flats (owned or rented), hostels, dormitories, and halls etc.

Solution for Alleviating Rural “Visual” Poverty:

In Rural India, a number of these “tent sites” are associated with infrastructure projects. These people “camp in tents” all year round. In the developed world people go camping to unwind. While "pucca" housing is the desired end result, why not make it a better experience for these poor campers? Providing camp-site like facilities with very basic amenities such as access to water, fuel and food essentials would go a long way to improve their Quality of Life. “Camp Sites” can be built as part of the infrastructure projects. If corruption were eradicated, there would be money for this. Alternatively, the cost of providing these amenities should be tacked onto the cost of the project as a separate item that is common to all bidders. Depending upon the duration of the project additional facilities like on-site schooling, and electricity should be looked into as well. The issue here is addressing the plight of the workers who build these facilities that will be subsequently enjoyed by many, for many years to come.

Solution for Alleviating Urban “Visual” Poverty:

In Urban India the Slum Redevelopment Program is geared to provide owned flats for slum dwellers. But that only solves part of the problem. The people living in the streets need to be accommodated. The best approach is Public-Private-Partnerships where individuals or corporations are given tax incentives to build “rent controlled” facilities that provide a Shelter for every Budget. These incentives could include Tax credits for Income and Capital gains invested in such ventures. The income derived from the rent is tax-free as well and the land could be leased. This program has to be instituted with strict compliance and transparency to prevent graft and misappropriation.

Building these facilities is one aspect of the solution. Providing adequate utilities, such as electricity, water etc. must be addressed as well. Capacity planning in India is dismal. While additional capacity has to be planned and built to address the supply side, demand side has to be addressed as well. A steep usage based pricing scheme along with energy efficient lighting/appliances, solar power, water conservation programs, and curtailing the wastage of these essential resources is called for. Socialism means everyone has to be served, the poor, the middle class and the rich. For little to nothing you get the basic minimum. By paying more, you get more. There is no reason why the first KW of electricity and the first 1000 litres of water per month are free for every household, rich or poor, with the price increasing with every additional level of consumption. People need to start thinking how often they will wash their cars, what kind of plants will they plant to reduce the consumption of water, and will they leave the tap running while they brush their teeth etc. With the current chronic shortage of electricity and water, it becomes a zero sum situation. Some will have to give up in order others can receive.

First let’s fix what we see:

Visual Poverty needs to be addressed on a “War Footing”. It can and will be solved. The question is how fast? We have to get away from the mindset that this has to be addressed by the government. There is a cost in providing these solutions and the same time serving the poor is a viable business proposition as well. There is money to be made in serving the bottom of the pyramid. By legitimizing this effort and adopting a build, operate model, the poor could be served.