Millions of homeless people in urban areas and those living in informal settlements across India are at heightened risk of infection due to their dire living conditions. The high density of the settlements, unventilated rooms and lack of basic and hygienic facilities will worsen the situation for urban poor. Lack of work during the lockdown period and also the fact that almost all of the workers from these slums are informal, casual workers is going to impact their daily lives and create more distress.

Key Issues:

• No casual labour and employment available for most
• Employers likely to not pay for the days lost due to lock down
• Common sources and points of water, local purchases and community toilets make physical distancing very difficult
• Lack of any safety materials or spaces for children living in these slums/clusters
• Rising prices of commodities and availability of basic nutritious food

The following key measures would help in this unprecedented situation.

7.1.5.1 Packed Dry Rations

Priority: Immediate

Supplying packets of basic dry rations (see Appendix B1) can be started with volunteers from the community as most of these families will suffer from lack of nutritious food.

Areas where Civil Society Organizations can help:

• Support Government / Urban local bodies in the development of the food availability plans for vulnerable families.
• Support in the procurements, preparation and distribution of food preparation kit as per the prescribed norms of Sphere India.
• Mobilizing volunteers from the community for this initiative

7.1.5.2 Non-Food Essential Items

Priority: Immediate

Supplying a basic packet of hygiene kit to each family is required as many will not be able to procure such materials. (See Appendix B2)

Areas where Civil Society Organizations can help:

• Connecting with local administration.
• Organizing volunteers/members
• Mobilizing the community

7.1.5.3 Medical Support

Priority: Immediate

Most of the urban slum families are already severely compromised healthwise due to lack of proper food and medical facilities. Hence, there will be some critical non COVID-19 cases where the families would require immediate assistance. This could include basic medical advisory, support to access tele-medicine where available.

Areas where Civil Society Organizations can help:

• Coordinating with local health department.
• Organizing volunteers to track such cases in a locality

7.1.5.4 Awareness Building for Urban Poor

Priority: Immediate

Sharing correct information and avoiding misleading rumours is very essential in such a widespread crisis. Such a campaign will educate the masses and will bring some sense of calm.

Areas where Civil Society Organizations can help:

• Support govt in developing communication/awareness generation plan.
• Provide technical support in designing IEC materials including digital content for mass distributions.
• Take the lead in the implementation of the plan.
• Providing support to the local municipal/ the district response team

7.1.5.5 Provision of Cooked Food Where Allowed

Priority: Immediate

Any work with community canteens must be done with prior approval from the government and while maintaining physical distancing norms. It is also important to ensure that the then current government advisories/ guidelines are being followed.

As a large part of the workforce in urban slums is in the informal sector, many are out of work, and stuck in cities without employment, such people need food and shelter. For immediate food provisions, NGOs can run community kitchens (like Amma’s canteens in Tamil Nadu, Indira canteens in Karnataka, dal-bhaat kendras in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand, Kudumbashree in Kerala). These can be self-managed by the community and provide them an opportunity to earn some money.

Areas where Civil Society Organizations can help:

• Assist government in setting up such facility in a locality.
• Mobilizing volunteers for running the facility and distribution.
• Creating a process for families to get cooked meal without any chaos.
• Ensure that physical distancing norms are being followed.

7.1.5.6 Local & Immediate Work Opportunities

Priority: Subsequent

Most of the families in urban slums will be unemployed during this period as they are largely engaged in informal sector work. This leads to severe livelihood challenges for them as well as they don’t have any meaningful engagement during the period where interactions should be minimal. Hence it is essential that some vocational activities are created for them to earn money and also produce materials which are urgently required. Appendix B6 has additional information on government schemes that can be explored.

Areas where Civil Society Organizations can help:

• Support and intervene in training the members in producing items such as masks etc.
• Support in creating necessary market linkage for selling the goods