Having publicly condemned and opposed political attempts aimed at regularisation of all of Dehradun’s slum settlements as is being promised by some politicians, Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) carried out a survey of slum dwellers and their perception of being rehabilitated elsewhere. About two dozen MAD members assembled at Astley Hall and then headed for this slum areas close to Scholars Home School and West Canal Road where a stretch of the Rispana river is now encroached upon by numerous slums.
The group divided into teams of four each and then conducted a survey to check the literacy rates and hygiene standards of the slum dwellers along with their view on being rehabilitated elsewhere by the authorities. MAD head Abhijay Negi said, “We are already pursuing this matter at the policy level very strongly; with all the RTI applications and direct correspondences with the Government and by documenting relevant court verdicts, Doon’s historical literature, National Institute of Hydrology’s report and other material.
To make this campaign successful, we also need to work to neutralise the brainwashing which the political class has done in these slums to make them easy vote-banks. Once we have processed our survey results, we shall soon make them public,” he said.