Archive for India

This story originally appeared in the October 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Nisha Kumar Kulkarni

Hyderabad, state capital of Andhra Pradesh, is the sixth most populated city in India and holds the same ranking for the country’s most populated “urban agglomeration.” The city also has a significant urban poor population. According to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(GHMC), more than 33% of the city’s population lives in slums. The overall slum-dwelling population in Andhra Pradesh is approximately seven million people, and Hyderabad claims near two million. Regarding the growth of the city’s slums, the GHMC states: “Slum settlements have multiplied over decades and the living conditions of the poor have not improved. Environmental decline, vehicular pollution, inadequate basic services and infrastructure in the poor settlements hit the poor hardest.” » Continue reading “Vaaradhi: An Urban Ultra Poor Intervention”

This story originally appeared in the October 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Carlin Carr

The city of Ahmedabad, India, is one of the country’s—and the world’s—fastest growing urban areas. This capital of Gujarat state has a population of nearly six million and is the seventh largest city in India. The city is experiencing many of the same issues as other mega-cities in the country, like its larger neighbor Mumbai. In spite of this, Ahmedabad is known for its entrepreneurial spirit and inventive nature. After all, it was from Sabarati Ashram in Ahmedabad that Mohandas Gandhi led the people of India on a non-violent freedom struggle to victoriously overcome British rule. Three decades later in 1972, the pioneering Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) formed in the city, and today is one of the leading organizations for underserved women in India, and perhaps the world. The city is also home to the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship, which comprises students, faculty and alumni from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and is “passionately committed to helping disruptive innovations and aspiring entrepreneurs succeed commercially.” It is not surprising, then, that this city is hosting the international traveling exhibit “Vision of 10” in October 2011, which showcases a vision for 10 sustainable cities in 2030. Ahmedabad is the only Indian city featured in the exhibit, mainly for its progressive transit system Janmarg. » Continue reading “In Ahmedabad, Dharavi’s Redevelopment Model”

This story originally appeared in the September 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asianewsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Carlin Carr

In India, 10 million people are estimated to have loco-motor disabilities, and only 5% of these disabled receive a wheelchair, brace or prosthetic that would allow them to be mobile, reports a study by Disability India, an NGO. These underserved create makeshift devices, such as a wood plank atop rollers to push themselves with their hands through heavy-traffic streets. In most cases, the disabled, who suffer a double stigma of economic and social exclusion in societies that look down upon these “abnormalities,” stay indoors in an effort not to be seen. “The most basic thing that we disabled people lack in India is easy access to anything and any place. That’s why we are called the ‘invisible minority’ because we never move out of our homes,” said a wheelchair user in India. » Continue reading “Mobility for the Disabled”

This story originally appeared in the September 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Nisha Kumar Kulkarni

Over the last two decades, alongside the story of India’s impressive economic growth is the story of its urbanization. Average economic growth has been 6-7% per annum over the last 20 years. Urban centers like Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai have seen their industry and populations explode to new highs, placing tremendous strain on existing systems and infrastructure. The story of urban India’s success, though, seems skewed: media reports and research make allusions to the notion that South Indian cities have handled urbanization more successfully when compared to their northern counterparts. Is this indeed the case? And if yes, why so? » Continue reading “Regional Trends in Urbanization”

This story originally appeared in the August 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

Bangladesh has the third largest population in South Asia, after India and Pakistan. In July 2011, the results of Bangladesh’s fifth population census were released. The story behind the country’s latest demographic data foretells how a growing population could very well be a boon for the country if population control strategies are not ramped up.

The population now stands at 142.3 million people, nearly double the country’s 1974 statistic and 18 million more than 10 years ago. This level of growth is approximately equivalent to an annual population growth rate of 1.34% over the past decade. The population density has increased from 834 to 964 people per square kilometer. Nestled among these figures is the conspicuous fact that rural-to-urban migration has increased, thereby putting significant strain on urban facilities and resources. About one-third of Bangladeshis live in urban areas; at the current growth rate, it is projected that by 2040 the total population will balloon to 230 million people where 52% will live in urban areas. » Continue reading “Population Control and Urban Family Planning in Bangladesh”

This story originally appeared in the August 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Carlin Carr

India’s growing middle class has access to more goods, services and products than ever before. This new consumerism heaped atop rapid urbanization has left municipalities with an issue much less glamorous than the new malls, grocery stores and mega-shops dotting the cities. Massive solid waste accumulation has become an overwhelming environmental, health and aesthetic hazard for urban areas. Mumbai, for example, generates nearly 7,025 tons of waste on a daily basis, according to the Bombay Csommunity Public Trust. Yet, as the study points out, this trash is from officially recognized areas of the city and likely leaves out thousands more tons from informal slums. » Continue reading “Partnering with the Poor for Waste Management in Pune”

This story originally appeared in the August 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

The Government of India is currently celebrating the fact that per-capita agricultural income is growing faster than overall per-capita income. With its next five-year plan for 2012-2017, the government is targeting a 4% agricultural growth rate. This may seem like good news, especially given recent years’ food inflation. However, the fact that India’s agriculture sector is earning more income has a hidden story: the price of food is increasing with each year, but there are also more mouths to feed each year. It is imperative to understand how much food India will need to grow every year to satisfactorily feed its population, however as presented in this article, India’s food challenges stem from mismanagement more than output. » Continue reading “Urban Food Management in India”

This story originally appeared in the July 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Nisha Kumar Kulkarni

Introduction

India is the only country in the South Asia region that is on its way to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. According to the Millennium Development Goals Report 2011, it is projected that poverty rates will fall to 22% in 2015 from 51% in 1990. The report shows that extreme poverty in India and China combined has reduced by approximately 455 million people, and it is expected that poverty in both countries will reduce by an additional 320 million by 2015. This is not insignificant progress, but the task at hand in India is colossal. » Continue reading “Chronic Poverty in India”

This story originally appeared in the July 2011 edition of the Searchlight South Asia newsletter created by Intellecap for the Rockefeller Foundation.

By Usha Ganesh

Mainstream education and education policies and programs let millions of children and adolescents slip through cracks that are often simple to spot but difficult to plug. In India, the Right to Education Act (RTE) has been a step forward to mobilize policy and public action to ensure primary education for all.  However, there is a need to take this further and explore the plight of those that cannot attend school because they have to work to survive or are, at this point in time, simply too old to benefit from the RTE. » Continue reading “Masoom Education: Transforming Night Schools”

Nandu Madhava, CEO of mDhil, doesn’t make a lot of guarantees in his business plan, but he does make one: 10 out of 10 teenagers have questions about sex.

It’s for that reason that much of the content on mDhil, a mobile health information platform, is geared toward young people. In addition, young people are early adopters of technology such as mobile phones and 3G.

“A cell phone is the only way many can get privacy,” Madhava said.

Teenagers aren’t going to use the family computer to look up potentially embarrassing information about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. » Continue reading “Plugging the Health Information Gap with Mobile”