11. Mainstreaming the urban poor in Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

project (APUSP) currently being implemented in Andhra Pradesh state in southern India by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in partnership with the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID). The project covers 32 Class 1 towns, which in 1991 had a combined population of 5.5 million.1 The project goal is to achieve ‘sustained reduction in poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor in Andhra Pradesh’. The purpose is that ‘the poor in Class 1 towns of Andhra Pradesh benefit from improved access to more appropriate and sustainable services’ (DFID 1999). Over a seven-year period, the project is expected directly to benefit more than 2.2 million slum dwellers in the 32 towns.2 However, in a large country such as India, which has experienced many governmentand donor-funded poverty reduction programmes over the last three decades, it is neither the scale nor the goal of APUSP that deserves attention. Rather, the merit of APUSP lies in its approach to poverty reduction. The concept of poverty reduction in APUSP is based on three premises. First, reforms are required within municipalities in order to improve their performance in poverty reduction activities. Second, improvements in environmental infrastructure in slums have multiple impacts on improving the conditions of poor people, but need to be based on the demands of poor people and on the capacity of the municipality to operate and maintain this infrastructure. Third, civil society should be strengthened as a way to invigorate the interaction between poor people and the municipality and to stimulate policies in favour of the poor. This reflects the notion that poverty reduction requires the building of partnerships in both government and community or civil society, and that it needs to be based on the actual needs of poor people.