Paper short abstract:

Poor people from tribal and rural areas have been migrating to urban centres for their livelihood and settling in different slums, which have low economic status, overcrowding, bad health and sanitation condition, lose morals, social isolation and high mobility.

Paper long abstract:

The paper explores the impact of development programmes which brought changes in quality of life of women living in slum areas of Bhubaneswar city, the state capital of Odisha. They have been migrating from different parts of the state with their own cultural value systems, beliefs and practices. It also studies the extent of cultural assimilation in a new cultural setting.

Women have been migrating from remote tribal and rural villages and adopting new occupations different from the traditional types .The peculiarity is that even after forty years of living in the slum few of them are continuing traditional occupation like selling of Handia (Country Liquor) and forest produces . Women are working as labourers whereas in their villages they used to work as forest dwellers and depend on sal and kendu leaf collection. Now, these tribal women are getting adjusted their livelihood into a new economy setting. They change their traditional works and work as construction labourers. They have some adapted themselves to an urban living pattern and are constantly exposed to different schemes of the Government and volunteers coming from different social organizations. The tribal women are getting conscious about personal hygiene, pregnant care, sending their children's to primary education. The tribal women are now interested for education, and forming Self Help Group (Personal Saving Scheme). But it is also observed that they are still following their traditional way of life and maintaining originality like aboriginals.