Vulnerability

People living in Delhi's slums are vulnerable to the effects of disease, poverty and despair, but there is also a risk of them losing even the basic shelter that the slums provide. The government has been known to order demolition of slums and remove the residents at short notice, with little concern for those soon to be homeless. As a result, many slum inhabitants live in constant fear of eviction.

Social problems

The slum environment is the perfect breeding ground for a wide range of social problems. High unemployment often causes men to stay around the home growing increasingly frustrated with their situation and the worsening poverty. Cramped conditions mean that there is nowhere to go when tensions rise, a factor that regularly leads to domestic violence. Sometimes the situation goes to the other extreme, where people abandon their homes, lured by the prospect of oblivion through alcohol or drug abuse. Once people develop such problems they have even less chance of finding work, fall deeper into poverty and the cycle continues.

Child labour

Many children in the slums start work at a very early age with no prospect of an education. They make money by rag picking (trawling through rubbish dumps to retrieve anything that can be sold), selling newspapers in traffic jams, or begging. They are at risk of exploitation as well as all the health problems that accompany their lifestyles. Incest and abuse can occur and child marriages are still encouraged in some areas. 

Internal and external corruption

Some people manage to achieve a high status within slums and establish themselves as slumlords. They are often allies of certain politicians and gain control of sizeable chunks of community land. By renting out the land, they make huge financial gains while everyone living in the slum struggles to survive on their meagre earnings. The slumlords form elaborate links with local politicians, government officials and the police, and slum dwellers are dependent on them for the smallest of amenities. They have little empathy with the slum residents and exploit them by charging highly inflated prices for electricity and water or for constructing huts.

Asha experiences a great deal of resistance from these slumlords as its work endangers their power over the slum. The men do not like to see the women becoming more powerful through forming women's groups as one of their main concerns is keeping the slum dwellers helpless and under their control.

The sheer volume of people living in Delhi's slums causes them to be obvious targets for politicians wanting to increase their percentage of the vote. Slum inhabitants are often promised all kinds of support and improvements in return for political allegiance, but their trust is regularly abused.

Gender inequality

Female babies in the slums of India can face discrimination and poor treatment from their very first moments, if they are given a chance of life at all; although gender specific abortion is illegal in India, it is still practised in some places.

Male children are seen as a blessing and indulged in many areas of Indian society. Children born into the deprived and harsh environment of the slums may not be as fortunate, but male babies are still given better treatment than the girls. Boys tend to be healthier as they are given better food in greater quantities, and they are also more likely to be sent to school.

In contrast, girls are seen as a drain on precious resources as they will one day get married and their contribution towards the family will end. To make up for this, they are forced to work from an early age and any ambitions regarding schooling or future careers are discouraged.

With that kind of start in life, it's difficult for women within the slums to find a voice. They are used to getting little support from their family members and are not usually considered worth consulting on family matters.