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Background Urban slums are hotspots of infectious diseases like COVID-19 as was seen in the waves of 2020 and 2021. One of the primary reasons why slums are disproportionately affected is their location in inaccessible and uninhabitable zones, crowded and poorly ventilated living spaces, unsanitary conditions and common facilities (water taps, common toilets, etc.). Staying at home during pandemics is hardly an option for slum dwellers as it often means giving up work and even basic necessities. Methodology This paper aims to understand the habitat vulnerabilities of slums in the two Indian megacities of Pune and Surat which were the worst hit during both waves. The study is done at the level of wards, which is the smallest administrative boundary, taking the habitat vulnerability (congestion and access to basic services). To identify the explanatory variables which increase the vulnerability of slums to infectious diseases, literature study is done on the triggering factors which affect habitat vulnerability derived from common characteristics and definitions of slum. Results The aim of the research is to categorize the slums into 3 levels of risk zones and map them subsequently. Conclusion This study will help in formulating a model to prioritize the allocation of sparse resources in developing countries to tackle the habitat vulnerabilities of the slum dwellers especially during health emergencies of contagious diseases like COVID-19.

Practical Learning is a great way of learning as it aids to increase a learner’s interest in a certain subject. It entails the use of visual aids to convey ideas even more effectively. Students can more easily understand and adapt the information from the subject, when they can visually see how it really works. Rather than just explaining the theory concepts, using animating slides, simulation software that explain the theory concepts easily can be used by the instructor to develop the stu-dent’s skill in the particular subject. Simulation tools provide significant cost savings in Education. This is because a topic can be taught effectively to large numbers of people without the need of buying expensive equipment. Like wireless networking labs, if we want to construct the lab with the equipment like wireless router, access points, different cabling it is more cost effective. Now in net, we can find out more simulation software for networking. One of the best simulation tools for Networking is Packet Tracer which can be freely downloadable from Cisco Networking Academy Students. It includes assessment task with automatic scoring and reporting. This paper presents the features of the simulation tool and analyzes the student’s performance over this simulation soft-ware with the given questionnaires. This study provides evidence in support of the instructional effectiveness of the use of Simulation software tool for the teachers and the learners who are interested in networking concepts.

What role does horizontal social inequality play for political protest in middleincome countries? We argue that public social service provision is an important driver of state perceptions. When a state fails to deliver services in an equitable manner, trust in institutions erodes and protest becomes more likely. We use a mixed methods design to investigate this argument in South Africa. First, we combine police event records with census data to estimate correlations between service inequality and protests. Second, we draw on an opinion survey with 27,000 respondents to investigate the suggested mechanism linking social inequality to protest through political attitudes. Third, we focus on qualitative protest accounts in two areas identified by a matching approach to assess the plausibility of our quantitative findings. Throughout these analyses, we document a robust association between horizontal social inequality and protest.

While the social consequences of environmental policies are extensively evaluated in sustainability research, few studies exist on the ecological impact of social benefits and the welfare state. Sustainable welfare is a novel research field that seeks to close this knowledge gap and develop integrated eco-social policies. Within this, researchers are starting to ask how citizen’s needs can be guaranteed in an environmentally sustainable way and how their welfare benefits should be delivered. Should citizens receive a universal basic income, be given vouchers for ecologically beneficial or socially needed goods and services, or be provided with access to socio-ecological infrastructures and services? This article develops a framework for sustainable welfare benefits with six criteria of sustainable welfare and nine different types of welfare benefits that belong to the domains of universal basic income (UBI), universal basic services (UBS), and universal basic vouchers (UBV). Using this framework, existing policy proposals are categorized and evaluated. The advantages and disadvantages of the different types of welfare benefits are discussed and new application areas highlighted. The analysis shows that a successful policy will likely include all forms of welfare benefits, with certain types being more adequate for certain fields and societal circumstances. The framework for sustainable welfare benefits can serve as a starting point for further research on integrated policy design and inform policymakers on the selection of eco-social policies.

More nation states are now committing to zero net carbon by 2050 at the latest, which is encouraging, but none have faced up to the transformation of economies, societies and lives that this will entail. This article considers two scenarios for a fair transition to net zero, concentrating only on climate change, and discusses the implications for contemporary ‘welfare states’. The first is the Green New Deal framework coupled with a ‘social guarantee’. I argue that expanded public provision of essential goods and services would be a necessary component of this strategy. The second scenario goes further to counteract runaway private consumption by building a sufficiency economy with ceilings to income, wealth and consumption. This would require a further extension of state capacities and welfare state interventions. The article provides a framework for comparing and developing these two very different approaches.

Discussions about sustainable consumption corridors tend to focus on private consumption. This Policy brief explores the contribution that public consumption may provide in maintaining lower and upper corridor boundaries. Recently developed proposals for \"universal basic services\" (UBS) are offered as a framework for understanding the potential of public consumption in this context. Drawing on a multi-disciplinary literature, the policy brief seeks to define and analyze the concept of universal basic services in theoretical and practical terms. It considers how far they may contribute and what their limits are, and briefly examines the extent to which this approach complements or conflicts with proposals for universal basic income (UBI).

Access to basic services such as water, sanitation, and electricity is a key determinant of an individual's well-being. Nevertheless, access to these services is unequally distributed among different social groups in many countries. India is no exception, with the scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) being one of the country's most marginalised and disadvantaged groups. This paper analyses the disparities in access to basic services between scheduled and non-scheduled households, investigates the factors contributing to the unequal access, and suggests policy recommendations. Using data from the National Sample Survey 76th Round, we analyse the access to basic services such as durable housing, improved water and sanitation, and access to electricity. The paper's objectives are (a) to investigate the factors impacting the quality of basic service delivery in urban India separately for scheduled and non-scheduled households and (b) to quantify the discrimination between scheduled and non-scheduled households in urban India concerning access to quality of basic services through computing a comprehensive index and by using the ‘Fairlie decomposition’ approach. The analysis corroborates the finding that systemic discrimination exists between scheduled and non-scheduled households in urban India regarding access to good quality basic services up to an extent of 24%.

The objective of this research is to investigate the implementation of upgrading areas with high poverty rates by municipal authorities to deliver essential services. This research employs upgrading areas with a high poverty approach to evaluate the effectiveness of government programs and policies in reducing under-resourced neighborhoods. To address the research challenge, we used a qualitative methodology to examine the circumstances of the under-resourced neighborhood. Urban Informal Settlement Governance The research findings indicate that upgrading areas with high poverty rates is regarded as the principal approach and a top priority initiative for the government. The government is implementing measures to decrease the prevalence of under-resourced neighborhoods in Malang City by utilizing political institutions, which are formulating policies that consider both financial resources and urban issues. The government’s upgrading areas with high poverty rates initiative employs an informal strategy that engages the community to enhance and make use of the local environment through the development of regional tourism.

The idea of pooling resources and sharing risks to provide universal services according to need not ability to pay was at the heart of the post-war settlement. However, decades of market ideology and deep spending cuts have left most services starved of power and resources. Universal Basic Services (UBS) offers a principled framework for policy and practice that aims to ensure everyone has access to life’s essentials. Based on need theory it combines universality with sufficiency to provide a secure social foundation for all within planetary boundaries. Needs are met in different ways, combining collective and individual measures, as illustrated by examples of childcare, housing and food. UBS can be combined with an income guarantee to ensure no-one’s income falls below an agreed level of sufficiency. Cash and services, which represent a ‘social wage’, are best understood as two sides of the same coin, supporting rather than competing with one another.

Contemporary models of welfare capitalism have frequently been critiqued about their fit-for-purpose in provisioning for people’s basic needs including care, and longer-term ecological sustainability. The Covid-19 pandemic has also exposed the need for better institutions and a new welfare architecture. We argue a post-productivist eco-social state can deliver sustainable well-being and meet basic needs. Arguing Universal Basic Services are an essential building block and prerequisite for a de-commodified welfare state, we focus on examining the form of income support that might best complement UBS. The article develops, from the perspective of feminist arguments and the capabilities approach, a case for Participation Income. This, we argue, can be aligned with targeted policy goals, particularly reward for and redistribution of human and ecological care or reproduction and other forms of socially valued participation. It may also, in the short term, be more administratively practical and politically feasible than universal basic income.