City Slum Welfare Scheme (SWELS)

The 1981 Census estimated that of over 3.2 million people living in Chennai (then known as Madras), roughly one-third of the population was living in slums, tenements, and hutments.  Although the state government through the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) was attempting to resettle people living in slums and better the quality of their lives, they were not always successful, and the number of slum areas in Chennai rose from about 1,200 in 1971 to over 1,480 by 1981.  These areas were growing faster than the government could help, causing them to begin focusing more on slum improvement than on slum clearance.

Improper drainage systems, lack of proper sewage facilities, and drinking water problems were just a few of the issues being faced by the people living in these areas.  Given this situation, in an effort to help these people meet the challenges they faced, CSG, after obtaining permission from the government, began working in seven different areas in Chennai.  The organization’s belief was that in order for slum dwellers to improve their situation and become self-reliant, deficiencies in knowledge, education, and motivation needed to be addressed.  CSG believed that creating and utilizing community-led groups would be the most effective means of dealing with these and other problems.  CSG’s goal, in each of the seven areas, was to begin by helping 350 families take on these problems, and to increase this number to include 150 more families per year to ensure that all project areas were covered.  Giving itself seven years to accomplish its objectives, CSG turned its focus to creating women’s, youth (males), girls and juniors groups, as well as the following three areas: 1. Health and Environmental Sanitation, 2. Education, and 3. Economic Improvement.

CSG used these women’s, youth, girls and juniors groups to organize the community, and to help them help themselves.  Leaders of some of these groups made up the members of the Advisory Council, which met every fortnight to exchange views and discuss plans to be put into effect for the benefit of their communities.

The following are some of the activities and efforts that were undertaken as a part of the City Slum Welfare Scheme or SWELS.

Health and Environmental Sanitation:

• Mobile Clinics: With the help of two doctors and three clinic assistants hired by CSG, people living in its project areas were visited once a week, and their health concerns addressed.  The mobile clinic treated common illnesses, gave necessary medication (some obtained from the Corporation of Madras) free of cost, and referred patients with chronic illnesses to area hospitals.  Although discontinued once access to local hospitals improved, the mobile clinic served the slum communities in the interim.
• Health and Nutrition Demonstrations: Fortnightly events were arranged to raise awareness of basic hygiene, communicable diseases, immunization, etc., by using methods such as films, slideshows, and lectures to ensure that people attended the events.  Frequent events were also organized to teach the importance of good nutrition by encouraging the use of raagi, kambu, wheat, and greens.
• Community Clean-Up Campaigns: Youth and girls groups organized regular clean-up events to ensure that their communities stayed clean.  They also participated in door-to-door campaigns to motivate people to keep their homes, as well as their surroundings, in good condition to assure the wellbeing of the community as a whole.

Education:

• Adult Education: Aimed at increasing literacy among the elders of the community by teaching them basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, as well as encouraging the reenrollment of dropout children to schools.
• Night Schools: Provided older dropout students with an opportunity to continue their education.
• Tutorial Schools:Engaged talented students from the slum communities to conduct tutoring sessions for school children in their community.
• Technical & Vocational Training: Training was provided for young men and women who showed an interest in learning a trade, becoming self-employed, or supplementing their family’s income.  Training was provided in the following areas: fibercraft, sewing and tailoring, typewriting, electrical wiring, radio and television repair, auto mechanics, masonry, as well as training to become an assistant nursing midwife.  CSG sponsored many of these trainings with help from the government and other sources.
• Leadership Training:Involved strengthening existing women’s, youth, and girls groups, as well as conducting trainings that developed knowledge of community consciousness, population education, small savings, health education, first-aid, nutrition, natal care, housekeeping, cooperatives, and alcoholism.

Economic Improvement:

• Self-Employment Scheme: Helped community members obtain small loans to set up their own businesses such as selling vegetables, flowers, fish, etc., or to develop old ones, and become self-reliant.  This scheme was very successful due to the high repayment rate to banks, which ensured access to more loans in the future.  We also found that these members took more interest in and became more active in the community groups.
• Placement Services: Offered aid to those who needed help in finding employment.
• Small Savings: Encouraged people in our project areas to open bank accounts, and begin regularly depositing money in order to help their families in times of need.

In addition to all of these activities, CSG also helped community members gain access to old age and widow pensions, fight child labor by setting up preschools, organize sports events for children and youth, and request the government for construction of public conveniences such as roads and street lights, as well as access to safe drinking water.

Although CSG was forced to withdraw from these communities and maintain a consultative position sooner than planned, many of the women’s groups transformed themselves into separate organizations in November 1986, and continued the work started under SWELS by utilizing their own initiative and self-reliance.