By Shashikant Nishant Sharma
Indiaโs rapid urbanisation has created major opportunities for economic growth, but it has also expanded informal employment and the number of households living in slums, squatter settlements, unauthorised colonies and other low-income settlements. Informal workersโincluding street vendors, construction labourers, domestic workers, waste pickers, home-based workers, transport workers and gig workersโare essential to urban economies. Yet many of them experience insecure work, inadequate housing, limited access to water and sanitation, poor health conditions, weak social protection and exposure to environmental hazards.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a useful framework for addressing these interconnected challenges. Although SDG 11 is the central goal for urban settlements, effective informal-sector and slum management requires coordinated action across poverty reduction, health, education, gender equality, water, employment, inequality, climate resilience and governance. In the Indian context, the SDGs can guide municipal bodies, state governments, development authorities and community organisations in designing inclusive and sustainable interventions.
SDG 1: No Poverty
SDG 1 aims to end poverty in all its forms. Targets 1.2, 1.4 and 1.5 are especially relevant to residents of informal settlements. Target 1.2 calls for reducing poverty in all its dimensions, while Target 1.4 seeks equal access to basic services, economic resources, property and financial services. Target 1.5 focuses on strengthening the resilience of poor and vulnerable people against climate-related events, economic shocks and disasters.
In Indian cities, poverty in slums is not limited to low income. It also includes insecure tenure, exclusion from public services, poor-quality housing, limited digital access and lack of identity documents. Therefore, informal-sector management should link livelihood programmes with social protection, affordable housing, food security, health insurance and access to banking. Portability of welfare benefits is particularly important for migrant workers who move between rural and urban areas. Municipal governments should prepare household-level vulnerability databases and ensure that residents of notified as well as non-notified slums are not excluded from public schemes.
SDG 2: Zero Hunger
Targets 2.1 and 2.2 focus on access to safe, nutritious food and the eradication of malnutrition. Food insecurity is common among informal workers because their earnings are uncertain, seasonal and highly vulnerable to illness, job loss and inflation.
For slum and squatter settlements, this goal can be achieved through strengthened Public Distribution System coverage, One Nation One Ration Card portability, community kitchens, anganwadi services, nutrition support for pregnant women and young children, and school meal programmes. Informal workers should not have to choose between paying rent, transport costs and buying nutritious food. Urban local bodies can also support community gardens, local markets and womenโs self-help groups involved in food preparation and distribution.
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
SDG 3 is highly relevant because slum residents often face a disproportionate burden of communicable diseases, malnutrition, heat stress, occupational injuries, respiratory illness and poor mental health. Target 3.8 calls for universal health coverage, while Target 3.9 seeks to reduce deaths and illness from hazardous chemicals, air pollution, water pollution and soil contamination.
Improving health outcomes requires better primary healthcare outreach in informal settlements, mobile clinics, immunisation services, maternal and child healthcare, affordable medicines and health-insurance enrolment. Occupational health should also be integrated into informal-sector policies. Waste pickers require protective equipment; construction workers need safety training and insurance; street vendors need safe working spaces; and domestic workers need access to social security and grievance mechanisms. Better drainage, sanitation, drinking water and solid-waste management will also reduce vector-borne and water-borne diseases.
SDG 4: Quality Education
Targets 4.1, 4.3 and 4.5 promote universal schooling, access to vocational education and elimination of disparities in education. Children living in informal settlements frequently experience interrupted schooling due to migration, lack of documents, household poverty and limited access to digital learning.
Indian cities should establish bridge schools, community learning centres, crรจches and after-school support in low-income settlements. School enrolment must be simplified for migrant children and children without permanent proof of residence. Skill-development programmes should also be provided for young informal workers, women, school dropouts and persons with disabilities. Training in construction skills, repair services, digital work, waste management, food processing and entrepreneurship can improve livelihood security.
SDG 5: Gender Equality
Women in informal settlements often carry the greatest burden of unpaid care work, water collection, sanitation management and household survival. Targets 5.1, 5.2, 5.4 and 5.5 address discrimination, violence, unpaid care work and womenโs participation in decision-making.
Gender-responsive slum management must include safe and accessible toilets, water supply near homes, well-lit streets, safe public transport and childcare facilities. Women should be represented in slum-development committees, ward committees, resident associations and water-management groups. Self-help groups can play a significant role in savings, micro-enterprises, waste management, community kitchens and water-quality monitoring. Reducing the time women spend obtaining water and using unsafe sanitation facilities directly improves their health, income opportunities and dignity.
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
SDG 6 is fundamental for informal settlements. Targets 6.1 and 6.2 seek universal access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, while Targets 6.3 and 6.b focus on water quality and community participation.
In India, informal settlements often depend on shared taps, water tankers, borewells or informal connections. These arrangements can be expensive, unreliable and unsafe. Cities should ensure household water connections where feasible, affordable shared connections where necessary, regular supply, water-quality testing and transparent tariffs. Toilets must be safe, gender-sensitive, accessible for persons with disabilities and connected to appropriate sewerage or faecal-sludge management systems.
AMRUT 2.0 provides an important opportunity to make urban water and sanitation systems more inclusive. Community-based organisations, womenโs groups and local residents should participate in planning, monitoring and maintaining WASH infrastructure. Drainage improvement and wastewater management are equally important, particularly in dense settlements vulnerable to flooding.
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 8 is the core goal for informal-sector management. Targets 8.3, 8.5, 8.6 and 8.8 promote productive employment, entrepreneurship, decent work, youth employment and labour rights.
Informality should not be treated merely as a problem to be removed; it should be recognised as a major source of livelihood and urban service provision. Indian cities need policies that protect and upgrade informal work. Street vendors need designated vending zones, licences, storage facilities, sanitation and protection from harassment. Waste pickers should be integrated into formal municipal waste systems, provided identity cards, protective equipment and fair payment. Construction workers require registration, occupational safety and welfare-board benefits.
Access to microcredit, affordable workspace, business training, digital payment systems and market infrastructure can help informal enterprises become more secure and productive. Labour rights must be extended to domestic workers, gig workers, home-based workers and migrant labourers.
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Targets 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3 focus on income growth for the poorest groups, social inclusion and equal opportunity. Informal settlements contain diverse groups, including migrants, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, religious minorities, elderly persons, women-headed households and persons with disabilities.
Urban planning should therefore use disaggregated data based on gender, age, disability, caste, migration status and income. Service delivery should not depend only on land tenure or formal property documents. A household living in a non-notified slum still requires water, sanitation, health services, schooling and disaster protection. Inclusive planning also requires local grievance systems, legal aid and regular community consultation.
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 11 is the most directly relevant goal. Target 11.1 calls for adequate, safe and affordable housing, basic services and slum upgrading. Target 11.2 promotes accessible public transport; Target 11.3 supports inclusive and participatory urbanisation; Target 11.5 addresses disaster losses; and Targets 11.6 and 11.7 address waste management, air quality and safe public spaces.
For India, the priority should be in-situ slum upgrading wherever possible. Forced relocation to distant peripheral sites can disrupt livelihoods, schooling, social networks and access to public transport. Upgrading should include tenure security, improved housing, paved lanes, drainage, water, sanitation, electricity, waste collection, street lighting and public spaces. When relocation is unavoidable because of severe environmental risk or infrastructure requirements, resettlement sites must be close to jobs, schools, healthcare and transport.
Affordable rental housing is also essential for migrant and seasonal workers. The Affordable Rental Housing Complexes approach can reduce the dependence of workers on unsafe and overcrowded informal accommodation.
SDGs 12, 13, 16 and 17: Environment, Climate, Governance and Partnerships
SDG 12 supports the integration of informal recyclers into circular-economy systems through Targets 12.4 and 12.5. Waste pickers can become formal partners in segregation, recycling and material recovery.
SDG 13 requires climate-resilient planning. Low-income settlements are often located near drains, railway lines, floodplains, waste dumps or unstable slopes. Flood-resilient drainage, cool roofs, heat-action plans, early-warning systems and safe evacuation arrangements are therefore essential.
SDG 16 promotes accountable institutions, legal identity, participatory decision-making and access to information. Residents must have a voice in decisions affecting eviction, relocation, upgrading and service provision.
Finally, SDG 17 highlights partnerships. Effective informal-sector management needs coordination among urban local bodies, state governments, NGOs, community-based organisations, self-help groups, worker unions, researchers and private-sector actors.
In conclusion, India can achieve more inclusive urban development by treating slum improvement and informal-sector management as linked development priorities. The focus should be on dignity, tenure security, decent work, universal services, community participation and climate resilienceโensuring that no urban resident is left behind.
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