It is estimated that 30 per cent of Delhi's population or nearly 4 million people live in overcrowded informal settlements variously called bastis or slums.

Fortunately for Delhi, a small change is being made in these bastis, thanks to the pioneering efforts of Dr Kiran Martin, a pediatrician. She was moved by the inhuman conditions of the slums, when way back in 1988, she went to the Dr Ambedkar Slum in South Delhi to treat victims of a cholera outbreak. From one woman treating patients at a borrowed table under a tree, the community service, called Asha, has grown to a family of 400 healthcare workers and volunteers meeting thehealthcare needs of over 160,000 people in 23 Delhi slums. After seeing and assessing the situation in these slums, American Express Bank has come forward to help raise funds by launching a society, called `Friends of Asha', and hosting a musical soiree for corporates and individuals on November 6. Also, Microsoft is launching its server, SQL-7, on November 16. It has a database on the slums compiled from the records of Asha.

Asha is a community health and development society dedicated to improving the lives of slum-dwellers in Delhi. In 1997-98, the society spent Rs 77 lakh on various welfare activities in 23 slums.

Says Fredrick D Glick, programme officer, Asha Community Health & Development Society, ``We provide primary healthcare to over 160,000 people in the slums of Delhi through a network of community health volunteers (CHVs), nurses and doctors. This is achieved via mobile clinics, improving the sanitation and living conditions, ante- and post-natal care, monitoring the health of pregnant women,immunisation of children under five, and providing advice on breast-feeding, nutrition and childcare.''

An essential part of Asha's programme is to train health volunteers in the slums, who can then take care of about 300 people in their vicinity. Adds Glick, ``We have specialist doctors visiting the slums 2-3 times a week, who see 50-60 patients at a time. We pay them Rs 300 per visit. Also, we provide ultrasound tests at Rs 50 per shot compared to the market rate of Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000. With better healthcare and awareness, the qualitative changes are amazing. For instance, the children have started going to schools and colleges, there are better dwelling units, the girls are more assertive, bright and organised.''

Much of the resources for Asha's programmes come from the UK, AusAid (an Australian aid programme), USAID, small private foundations and individual donations. American Express has come forward to launch a society to channel funds to Asha as part of its blue-box values. Informs Anurag Gautam,senior director, American Express, ``Blue box is the American Express logo and its values convey a message of good corporate citizenship. We looked at the work that Asha has done in the past and thought that it deserved support from the corporates. Till now, the aid that they received was from overseas agencies. Now we will do our bit to channel the contributions of our clients. We intend to do this on a continuing basis.''

American Express will meet the expenses for hosting the soiree and dinner at the India Habitat Centre; it expects to raise Rs 9 lakh through this effort. Also, the American Express Foundation based in New York City, which funds community development projects across the world, will look into specific projects of Asha. Contributions from the Foundation for projects approved could range from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

Over the years, Asha has also collected data on people living in slums. But the problem has been that with increasing population and Asha's expanding work in Delhi, it isdifficult to maintain and retrieve data from registers. Microsoft has come forward to help Asha in this by evolving a software package to make data management easy.

Says Glick, ``Microsoft does not look at it as a charity, but as a convergence of interests. For its new database product, Microsoft was looking for an appropriate agency and Asha provided an ideal case.''Adds Sanjiv Mathur, marketing manager, Microsoft, ``Asha happened to be a happy accident. The SQL-7 server is to be put to commercial use essentially, but we are doing it free for Asha. It is basically a low-cost option for managing and compiling data.''

As for the benefits to Asha from the Microsoft package, Glick says, ``It will not only help us to meet the needs of the different projects, but also help us keep track of our performance. It will be useful for our donors, who will be better informed of our activities and can do comparative studies of changes over the years. Such a database can also help run a food programme or a hospital.''The success of the community development programmes depends a lot on the interest shown by those who are better-off socially. The efforts of companies such as American Express not only helps them do their bit for society, but also drives home a message of good corporate citizenship. Such a synergy between corporates and development programmes will strengthen the fact that there is still hope for the less privileged and that they are not merely vote-banks.