Although India is one of the less urbanised countries of the world with only 27.78 per cent of her population living in urban agglomerations/towns, this country is facing a serious crisis of urban growth at the present time. Whereas urbanisation has been an instrument of economic, social and political progress, it has led to serious socio economic problems.

The sheer magnitude of the urban population, haphazard and unplanned growth of urban areas, and a desperate lack of infrastructure are the main causes of such a situation. The rapid growth of urban population both natural and through migration, has put heavy pressure on public utilities like housing, sanitation, transport, water, electricity, health, education and so on.

There is another reason why urban and metropolitan problems are hard to solve -- the lack of political will to seriously address the problems in a long-term and sustained way. State legislatures often have an anti-urban bias. Regions often embody conflicts of interest between suburbs and city. Jurisdictions are often more concerned about their own narrow interests than in finding workable regional solutions. And the central government often fails for decades to mount serious and realistic urban strategies. So the result is often stasis - nothing happens.

The Centre for Social Initiative & Management is one of this few organisations looking to address this problem with the development of social entrepreneurship at the forefront of their initiatives.

CSIM launched a centre in Hyderabad in 2002, by networking with Dr. Reddy’s Foundation. This centre has emerged as a prominent learning and networking centre for social workers, NGOs and budding social entrepreneurs in Hyderabad. The Centre has already trained over 250 persons and most of them are now active agents for social change and development.

Keeping in mind the magnitude of growth Hyderabad has seen in the last decade, CSIM believes the solutions have to be more context specific, and has the following menternship for you:

Choose a central focal point in the city (example: Your home), and map out an area within a 10km radius around this focal point. 

       2.   Provide  viable solutions for the problem you have surveyed, keeping in mind the realities of the area.