ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

LucknowSubscribe to Lucknow

Basic Amenities, Deficiency-induced Ailments, and Catastrophic Health Spending in the Slums of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

The pattern of disease that comes about due to inadequate availability and poor quality of drinking water as well as substandard sanitation and micro-environmental (drainage, sewerage, and solid waste disposal) facilities in the slums of Lucknow are investigated in this paper. It estimates the relevant health costs and catastrophic health spending in these slum households. The results suggest that limitations in these public utilities cause numerous water-borne and faecal-transmitted infections as well as other infectious diseases. Consequently, the poorest sections of the urban population of Lucknow, who live in slums, spend almost a third of their consumption expenditure on out-of-pocket expenditure, and over half of these disease-affected households have encountered CHS. It suggests a comprehensive and integrated approach for reviving a large number of short- and long-term policies, which involve specifically developing a policy for providing free medical facilities to all acute and chronic cases in poor households, which would lead to a reduction of OOPE and CHS in slum areas.

The Inconvenient Truth of Illiteracy Inequality

This study analyses adult illiteracy in Lucknow, focusing on inequalities between different geographical regions, castes, age groups and genders. The reading ability of 1.06 million people in the 15–60 age group was tested, and the literacy rate found to be 65%—substantially lower than the census figures of 77% for Lucknow and 68% for Uttar Pradesh. Each socio-demographic dimension measured was a key determinant of literacy—disadvantaged groups had literacy rates substantially below the mean. Socio-demographic determinants also compound each other, highly disadvantaging some subgroups, an aspect that policymakers must take into consideration when developing policies to increase literacy equity.

 

Derailing Right to Education in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh has one of the lowest enrolment rates for economically weaker section and disadvantaged category children under the 25 percent reservation clause in the RTE Act. Yet the state government has issued multiple regressive notifications that inhibit these children from seeking admission under this clause. These notifications not only fail to satisfy the equality principle under the Indian Constitution but are also beyond the jurisdiction of the parent statute. 

Lucknow: Glory Days

Lucknow: The Last Phase of an Oriental Culture by Abdul Halim Sharar translated and edited by E S Harcourt and Fakhir Hussain;

A Fatal Friendship: The Nawabs, the British and the City of Lucknow by Rosie Llewellyn-Jones;

The Making of Colonial Lucknow 1856-1877 by Veena Talwar Oldenburg; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001; Rs 495.

A City and Its People

Fractured Modernity Making of a Middle Class in Colonial North India by Sanjay Joshi; Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2001; pp 209, Rs 493.

Fleeting Impressions

A visit to the Karamat Husain Girls' College proved an eye-opener. Battling stiff opposition in the early 20th century, its founder maintained his inherent belief that women's education was a precondition for advancement of the country and community. Even today, a similar spirit pervades the hearts and minds of its teaching staff.

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