Indian City Living Worse Than in Us Jails, Survey Reveals

There are few more forbidding environments than the American jail system. But it appears that urban life in India may be worse. The latest government figures reveal people in its cities live in just 60sq ft per person ? the minimum size required by US prisons.The figures reveal that the country's experience of grappling with urbanization has become increasingly unsuccessful. Although the landscape of Indian cities is becoming dotted with new apartment blocks and gated communities of white-washed mansions, these sit as small islands in seas of slums.

It has meant that a booming economy has drawn tens of millions off the land to cities where life for the majority has become harder. In the past 50 years, both the number and proportion of Indians living in homes of less than 100sq ft (9.2sq meters) per person have risen.

According the country's 63rd national survey, 55% of India's urban population live, sleep, cook and wash in a space no bigger than 10ft by 10ft. The comparable figure for the average American is 900sq ft per person. The issue of how much space a person needs is likely to become more acute in the near future.This year it is believed that the number of people living in urban areas globally exceeded those in the countryside for the first time ever ? and India is forecast to have three of 10 largest "megapolises" by 2025. Experts say that at the heart of the matter is the "routine denial of access to public services to the city poor". Harsh Mander, a former civil servant who runs the Center for Equity Studies, said that although the poor "subsidize the lifestyles of the middle class in India there is no concern for their well-being".Mander, who has been working in slums for a decade, said government laws supposed to protect the poor are often subverted ? without any comeback. He pointed out zoning laws that forced builders to give over space to poor people for projects were simply used to "add extra bedrooms"."There is a deep prejudice about the poor. Their slums are demolished. They have no access to water or health facilities. In fact starting with housing they are denied access to public amenities and facilities. The state feels it has no duty to them."Economists have also begun to fret over how little of India's wealth is trickling down to the poor. According to the World Bank, the estimated number of poor in India tops 450 million or 41.6% of the population."In the past quarter century, the poverty rate has slowly declined by somewhat less than one percentage point a year," wrote Usha Tuteja in the Economic Times. "Clearly, India has not experienced the spectacular declines in poverty expected in an emerging economy with high growth."