Welfare scheme access challenge for urban poor: Report

Less than half of the urban poor in Bengaluru have access to health services while only one-fourth benefited from housing schemes, according to a survey report released by the state government.

As much as 83.70% of the surveyed population did not have access to quality drinking water and almost all of them (94.70%) were excluded from self-employment schemes, a baseline study conducted by the Centre For Advocacy and Research (CFAR) on the “Extent of Social Inclusion and Access to Social Welfare Schemes and Basic Services for Urban Poor” found.

Also, one-fourth of the urban poor were excluded from schemes to build toilets, resulting in open defecation.

Speaking to DH, Prabhanand Hegde, State Project Manager, CFAR, said that the study was carried out in five wards of Bengaluru - Binnypet, Chalavadipalya, Subhash Nagar, Nagarbhavi and Nayandahalli - consisting of 36 settlements. The survey was conducted in May-June and a total of 728 respondents comprising construction workers, domestic helps, pourakarmikas, sex workers, transgenders and persons living with HIV were interviewed.

While a large portion of the population had access to identity cards such as Aadhaar and voter ID, 42% of the people did not possesses Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards. “A total of 46.70% of the respondents do not access public health service and 96% of them have not enrolled for Arogya Karnataka and Ayushman Bharat,” the survey noted.

According to Radha K, outreach coordinator, CFAR, the Department came forward to release the report considering the objectives to be fulfilled as per Sustainability Development Goals.