Paper short abstract:

This paper will track the history of state politics towards two illegal/unauthorised settlements lying next to one another on the outskirts of New Delhi. What does this history say about state control over land and state conceptualisations of illegality in urban India?

Paper long abstract:

India has a fairly long tradition of state planning, which since its Independence in 1947 has been based on modernist Five-year Plans. In the case of the New Delhi State, city planning has since 1957 been based on The Delhi Master Plan of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). In reality, however, DDA has not had the capacity to control that city-land is used according to the intentions of the master plan, with illegal settlements as a result. This paper will track changing relations over time between, on the one hand, the New Delhi government through DDA and, on the other hand, people in illegal settlements. Focus will be on two illegal settlements, classified by DDA as an Unauthorized Colony and as a Jhuggi Jhompri Colony respectively. What forms of relation do people in these illegal settlements have with the state, and what do these kinds of relations say about citizenship? To what extent do the recent changes in the Delhi State Government's normative perceptions of citizenship, towards a model of increased people's participation, influence political mobilization and notions of citizenship in these two illegal settlements?