LONDON — After treading the red carpet at the Oscars in Los Angeles in February, the child stars of "Slumdog Millionaire" are on the streets. Mumbai authorities have demolished their flimsy shelters only three months after promising them real houses.
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali Qureshi are just two of some 60 million slum-dwellers in India, and Garib Nagar and Barat — where they live — are just two of about 52,000 slums.
The film's director, Danny Boyle, has just intervened to help the children, but the problem is bad government policies — nothing that his charity, their bulldozers, large wads of cash or grandiose public schemes can solve.