Women's Empowerment: Kotla
Empowerment - New Delhi
Kotla, Premnagar, Kotla Mubarakpur
Why
- Gadhia Lohars, an ancient Rajasthani tribe, have been living in Kotla slum for over 40 years. They had been issued voter IDs, ration cards and had been supplied with a water connection. On 12 January 2009, without any notice, their slum dwellings (jhuggis) were demolished overnight as part of a slum clearance policy to ready the city for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
- The slum is next to an underpass in South Delhi with perpetual traffic noise, pollution, sub-standard living conditions and no water supply or sanitation. Dwellings are made of any available material. In parts of the slum there is space for only a single person to pass between the jhuggis.
- The programme includes education and nutrition for children, a women’s empowerment programme and legal aid for the community to enable them to receive compensation for being displaced.
- The kindergarten and tuition centre for 120 students has brought about a change of mindset in the community and an appreciation of the value of education. The students' mothers requested skills training in order to earn an income.
Circles of Love
- The programme aims to alleviate poverty through empowerment.
- The women are not educated and have young, malnourished children. As the slum is highly congested, there is no room for equipment such as sewing machines.
- Twenty women earn an income through producing fabric beads.
- They keep their materials in a large plastic box and use the lid as a clean working space.
Services
- Nutritional snacks to address malnutrition are provided.
- Living essentials such as clothing and blankets are distributed.
- Regular fogging with herbal pesticides for mosquito and pest control is carried out.
- Treatment and medicines for the community are provided by medical camps/clinics.
