Housing Bias, Discrimination Turning Indian Cities Into Ghettos

Discrimination forces many people to the suburbs, making Indian cities less diverse and cosmopolitan.

Informal rules and discrimination by Indian landlords are dividing communities into ghettos. Representational Image. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@AparnaC1)

After the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, an Indian real estate company ran an advertisement with the slogan 'Homes that don't discriminate', calling for an end to prejudice in India's housing market based on gender, religion or caste.

While the ad was unusual, the sentiment was familiar to millions of Indians who have tried to rent or buy homes in the city, only to be denied because they were single, ate meat or were of a certain caste or region.

Informal rules and discrimination by Indian landlords to keep out religious minorities and single people, are eroding the multi-cultural nature of Indian cities and dividing communities into ghettos, analysts say.

"It's 2017 - and we're still encountering discrimination," said Rishi Dogra of NestAway Technologies that ran the ad.

People should be able to move freely and find a living space anywhere in the country.

Rishi Dogra

Dogra is the marketing head for the company founded by four young male graduates after they had trouble finding a home in Bengaluru.

Such discrimination has forced many people to the suburbs, making Indian city centres less diverse and cosmopolitan, with high rents already making them unaffordable for poorer workers.

Mumbai, India’s financial hub and a magnet for migrants from across the country, has traditionally had enclaves for Catholics, Parsis, Bohri Muslims and others. They set up housing societies, or co-operatives, to help other community members.

As the city grew and drew more migrants, powerful housing societies have often denied homes on the basis of religion, caste, food preferences and even professions.

The divide grew after the bloody Hindu-Muslim riots in 1992-93 and still persists, said Zakia Soman, a co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, a non-profit organisation for Muslim women.

A Facebook group called 'Indians Against Discrimination' was set up in 2015 after a young Muslim woman was asked to leave her flat a week after she moved in on account of her religion.

When it comes to living spaces, we have become very insular. The city is getting increasingly ghettoised as a result, weakening our social fabric and polarising us further. It doesn’t bode well at any level. 

Zakia Soman

Local courts have ruled against discrimination by housing associations in several cases, but there have also been contradictory rulings.

Discrimination

In a 2005 case, India's top court ruled in favour of a Parsi housing society in Ahmedabad, saying it could limit its membership to Parsi community only and did not have to admit others.

The constitution guarantees our right to equality, but housing societies can still frame their own guidelines which may be discriminatory.

Vinod Sampat, a real estate lawyer

A draft housing policy for Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, has dropped a clause that prevents discrimination in housing. This may leave those looking to rent or buy property with fewer protections, Sampat said.

Government officials have said that non-discrimination is already protected by the constitution, so there is no need for a separate clause.

That has not reassured people like Shikha Makan, who made a film called 'Bachelor Girls' on housing bias against single women - including Bollywood actors - in Mumbai.

Not being able to find a home in a big city like Mumbai is a shame. It is marginalising single women and other minorities.

Shikha Makan, Bollywood actor

(Published in an arrangement with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change)