With 23%, Hyderabad has the second largest population of urban poor in cities of India. This means out of 100 Hyderabadis, 23 are living under the poverty line. They live in 775 notified urban slums in Hyderabad, with Indiranagar and Bushannagar having the largest concentrations. It’s a sobering thought that the growth of the urban poor in the city is directly proportionate to the economic growth of Hyderabad. Over the past decade, the Telangana capital has been buzzing with commerce which caused a continuing rise in the number of slums due to rapid urbanization and lack of effective urban planning. The total number of slum households in the metropolitan is somewhere around 0.5 million.

This increasing poor population live in grim conditions without basic civic amenities like safe drinking water and sanitation, which adversely affects their immune system and increases their vulnerability to infectious and communicable diseases like for instance tuberculosis, diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria and dengue fever. Lack of public healthcare service and absence of health - seeking behaviour, further makes it challenging for the slum population to lead a healthy life. Shelter, food and public transport are not very expensive in Hyderabad which makes it possible for poor people to survive here, however it still remains nearly impossible to lead a life under humane conditions. Pro - poor policies and programmes exist and should reduce the numbers of people living below the poverty line, but unfortunately these do not reach down to those in need. The poor are not registered in many government schemes and so don’t get to avail of the benefits.

One possibility of helping to make the situation better for people living in the slum, would be to provide education and early childhood training, or to conduct awareness programmes on topics like health or other important issues. CMM has projects, like tuition centres and awareness programmes which strive to improve livelihoods of people living in the slums, in and around Hyderabad, for example in the Singareni Colony. Together we could potentially make a difference for future generations born in the slum.