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<a href="http://web.mit.edu/mitei/" border="0" > <img src="http://web.mit.edu/miteicomm/announcements/mitei-ss-banner3.jpg" alt="MITEI: MIT Energy Initiative" style="padding-top:5px;"/></a>
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<h1>Slum Free India?</h1>
<h3>Engaging Residents in a New Era a New Plan</h3>
<h3>Monday, March 28th</h3>
<h3>12:00 PM</h3>
<i>Refreshments will be served</i><br/>
<h3><a href="http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=32"> Room 32-155 </a></h3>
<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p>
<p>The central Government of India (GOI) recently launched the Rajiv Awas Yojana scheme with the objective of making India "slum free". The GOI scheme asks state and local governments to adopt city-wide approaches and to take decisive action in upgrading all slums. The national-level political leadership, budgetary support, and nation-wide scale of this scheme represent a significant step forward for the GoI and an opportunity for creating tangible improvements for the urban poor.</p>
<P>However, the GOI will continue to be constrained in implementing such schemes until the capacities of its planning, infrastructure, and service delivery staff -- particularly at the municipal level -- are raised to meet the requirements of the task at hand. Most municipal governments are particularly weak in engaging, mobilizing and dialoguing with slum communities and NGOs that can facilitate these activities. Countless slum improvement projects have stalled or failed as a result of this weakness.</p>
<p>Government alone cannot solve the slum problem no matter how big their subsidies. It will require the private sector, from developers to financiers, to help provide market-based affordable housing solutions that reduce the housing deficit. It will require resources of slum residents themselves to invest in and maintain infrastructure. And it will require NGOs and other non-profit organizations to facilitate solutions for the poor.</p>
<p>CHF International has been supporting GOI and civil society stakeholders to advance the vision of RAY and implement meaningful, community-driven solutions for urban poverty reduction. Join Brian English, Country Director of CHF International-India, in a discussion on how they have been advancing meaningful "participation" in state-driven solutions and supporting thousands of urban poor to gain more meaningful positions in the market-place and on the policy agendas.</p>
<p><strong>About the Speaker</strong>
<p><strong>Brian English </strong>is the Country Director for CHF International-India, an international development organization founded in 1952. Mr. English has implemented urban development programs in more an a dozen countries for a diverse range of clients. Mr. English is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania's graduate School of Design. Mr. English lives in Bangalore, India.</p>
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