Poor people in Gujarat....

'We' calim that our CM is number 1 and has done wonders in development sectors in Gujarat State. Just check out these figures and see what he (and his gov) has done to poor and the most needy people of the state!!


* 746 Families from 10 slums have been evicted to make way for the Sabarmati River front, of which only 24 families (3.21%) have been resettled till December 2009.

* There are 163 'naturally evolved' markets in the city of Ahmedabad, where 26,737 vendors make their living by catering to 5,18,860 customers daily. Of these markets, three of them, with a total 465 vendors, have been fully evicted. Another 10 markets, with a total vendor population of 3,392 have been partly evicted.

* 27,814 families from 47 slums have been evicted since 2002 to 2009 in Ahmedabad, of which only 2,899 families (10.42%) have been resettled.

"There is a widespread eviction and displacement of poor families across Ahmedabad to make way for development projects. Thousands of families evicted for Kankaria Lake facelift, BRTS and road widening projects and some from Sabarmati River Front have been dumped in Ganesh Nagar, Piplang. There is loss of access to health and education. It has also resulted in loss of life for the aged and the very young. Today, 50 families have to share one toilet. These families are geographically fragmented and so numerically, they can be ignored in each ward. But the astounding overall number should cause concern for the future Mayor" - Navdeep Mathur, Public System Group, IIM,Ahmedabad

" In Surat, there is a massive relocation of slumdwellers from city to the outkirts, where there is waterlogging and lack of basic civil facilities like roads, water, schooling and heathcare centers. Most of the 305 offical slums in the city have been relocated. SMC is very sincere about moving slums out of city; it must be equally sincere about rehabilitation. In local elections, local leaders and former mayors are nowhere on scene. They only talk about Sohrabuddin, Terrorism and CBI"
- Kiran Desai, Centre for Social Studies, Surat.

(October 10, 2010 Indian Express - page 4)