Provision of tenurial security for the urban poor in Delhi: recent trends and future perspectives

This paper analyses the problems of tenure security for the poor in Delhi by examining the recent programmes and policies adopted by the central and state governments, the orders passed by the judiciary and their implementation at micro-level. It provides an overview of the strategy adopted since the 1950s (after independence from colonial rule) until the late 1990s when the slum population was at its peak. An attempt is made to trace the more recent changes in policy perspective and the dilution of concern for the poor by critically examining the administrative decisions, developmental programmes, court orders, etc. and the method of their implementation. After discussing the broad distribution of households in various settlement categories and their access to tenure security and basic amenities, it argues that the prospect of finding space and even informal tenurial security for the poor would be bleak unless an explicit provision is made within the Master Plan.