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Suman Singh applies lipstick to her lips while feeding her youngest daughter, Sheetal, 5 months. At home before going to work as a domestic servant.
Suman Singh, 35, works in local households as adomestic laborer. She lives in a small plastic-sheet covered dwelling in Vinayak Puram with her husband Subedar Singh, a rickshaw driver, 38, and their six of their seven children. Originally from Sitapur, 60km from Lucknow, Suman can expect to earn Rs.200 per month while her husband brings home Rs.100 per day. Suman explains that the family moved from Sitapur because "We faced great difficulties there. We could only eat two times a day. Often, we could only eat chutney with chapati and sometimes we had no meals at all. We would have to skip meals and just take water.” Though she feels more secure living in Lucknow than in Sitapur, Suman often finds it difficult to feed her family, "Food prices are rising and we are facing problems. We can only buy small amounts of food. We feed the children first and then we eat." Suman's family are classified as APL (Above the Poverty Line) and had a ration card that allowed them monthly subsidized provisions of kerosene (5 litres) and wheat (10kgs). The ABL card was destroyed three months ago when their tented home was partially destroyed in a fire. Suman's husband Subedar describes the family's vulnerability, "I earn around 2-3,000 rupees per month and with this amount we have to care for the family and feed the children. We don’t have enough money to send the children to school and if they get sick, there is no money for medicines. But what can we do?"
Slum community of Vinayak Puram in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, consists of about 400 households with a population of 1,500. Established 25 years ago, the slum is considered illegal and families are without security of tenure. Most of Binayak Puram resident work as day wage laborers and domestic servants. To be situated in Lucknow provides employment opportunitie
Suman Singh, 35, works in local households as adomestic laborer. She lives in a small plastic-sheet covered dwelling in Vinayak Puram with her husband Subedar Singh, a rickshaw driver, 38, and their six of their seven children. Originally from Sitapur, 60km from Lucknow, Suman can expect to earn Rs.200 per month while her husband brings home Rs.100 per day. Suman explains that the family moved from Sitapur because "We faced great difficulties there. We could only eat two times a day. Often, we could only eat chutney with chapati and sometimes we had no meals at all. We would have to skip meals and just take water.” Though she feels more secure living in Lucknow than in Sitapur, Suman often finds it difficult to feed her family, "Food prices are rising and we are facing problems. We can only buy small amounts of food. We feed the children first and then we eat." Suman's family are classified as APL (Above the Poverty Line) and had a ration card that allowed them monthly subsidized provisions of kerosene (5 litres) and wheat (10kgs). The ABL card was destroyed three months ago when their tented home was partially destroyed in a fire. Suman's husband Subedar describes the family's vulnerability, "I earn around 2-3,000 rupees per month and with this amount we have to care for the family and feed the children. We don’t have enough money to send the children to school and if they get sick, there is no money for medicines. But what can we do?"
Slum community of Vinayak Puram in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, consists of about 400 households with a population of 1,500. Established 25 years ago, the slum is considered illegal and families are without security of tenure. Most of Binayak Puram resident work as day wage laborers and domestic servants. To be situated in Lucknow provides employment opportunitie
