Congress to stage protest outside Assembly against slum demolitions

The Congress’s Delhi unit on Sunday said it will stage a protest outside the Assembly on the first day of the Monsoon Session on Monday, primarily against the demolition drives carried out in slum clusters across the city.

The party said it will raise other issues such as the “deteriorating law and order” situation, the “false promise” of ₹2,500 per month to the women, and waterlogging. It will also protest against the school education Bill for being “anti-parent and anti-education”.

Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said party members met slum dwellers, who he said are living in “constant fear of being displaced”.

“The BJP government, since it came to power, has already displaced 15,000 families,” the Delhi Congress chief said, adding that slum dwellers should not be displaced without alternative arrangements even if there is a need to relocate them.

“After Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of demolition of JJ Clusters in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Minister of Delhi [Rekha Gupta], under pressure, said that not a single slum in Delhi will be demolished, but on the other hand, asserted that the slums along the railway lines cannot be saved. He [Rahul Gandhi] urged the Delhi government to clarify its intentions towards the slum dwellers, instead of playing with the lives of the poor people,” Mr. Yadav said.

Alleging that the Arvind Kejriwal government has locked thousands of flats constructed by the Congress under the Rajiv Rattan Housing Scheme, aimed at providing better living conditions for the poor, for 11 years, Mr. Yadav said, “Those houses should be repaired and allotted soon to the residents of slums.”

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Ms. Gupta inspected government flats built for economically weaker sections (EWS) in 2011 in Sultanpuri, which are in a dilapidated condition. She said that the government is working to meet the demand for one million houses.