Shanty dwellers in Ahmedabad have been served notices to vacate for the time being in view of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the city. Poverty and slums are here to stay and the government seems to be of the view that the only way to avoid exposing them to outsiders is to either hide them by constructing a wall or by removing them at least temporarily. We need to see how the government fulfils its promise of providing affordable housing for all by 2022. It looks as though we have to live with the paradox of extraordinary achievements in fields like space science and digital technology and at the same time be a witness to stark poverty. The government perhaps wants the poor to realise that at the end of the day, they have to take care of their own poverty and the state, irrespective of the party in power, can only provide a few sops and freebies as consolations.
K.R. Jayaprakash Rao,
Mysuru
