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Indian activist
files complaint against Slumdog
Patna:
An activist in Patna has filed a complaint against the
internationally acclaimed film Slumdog Millionaire saying
the title of the film is offensive and derogatory. Tapeshwar
Vishwakarma, general secretary of the Slum Dwellers Joint
Action Committee in Patna, said that he had no problem
with the film or the way it depicted the lives of slum
children. His objection was to the title of the film which
he felt was abusive and offensive.
Incompetence, not poverty: Report
New Delhi:
India's shantytowns depicted in critically acclaimed
film 'Slumdog Millionaire' are an outcome of the planners'
failed attempt to build low-cost alternatives, according
to a report released by Ministry for Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation. The film, which tracks the story
of an 18-year-old slum boy from rags-to-riches, has won
accolades overseas but received criticism in India for
depicting the country as "third world dirty underbelly".
According to the report, people have been forced to the
conditions because city planners have failed to build
low-cost alternatives. With the boom in the India's economy
in recent years rural people have been largely attracted
to the urban areas hoping to get a slice of the growing
prosperity. With the lack of affordable houses they are
left with no choice but to live in makeshift tenements
with few basic utilities. The report said that housing
projects would provide residents properly constructed
homes, linked to basic infrastructure such as sewage,
electricity and running water. It would be in sharp contrast
to the slums which appear in most of the country's major
cities, with their endless warrens of small houses and
shops built of corrugated metal, cement and tarpaulins,
public latrines and tangles of electric wiring, often
illegally linked to the main power lines. "The pace of
urbanisation in India is set to increase, and with it,
urban poverty and urban slums," Selja, the minister for
housing and urban poverty Alleviation, said. The report
estimates by 2030, 50 pc of Indians will live in cities,
compared to the current 28 pc of the 1.1 billion population.
About one quarter of city dwellers are living "in slums
amidst squalor, crime, disease and tension," the report
said. "The challenge is to provide basic services to the
urban poor and slum dwellers without letting the elite
capture all the benefits," she added.
-
Feb 4, 2009
