But the West Bengal government (until 2011, ruled by the longest-governing democratically elected Communist Party in the world) appeared to believe in a slum-free India and made it easier to justify clearing slums legally as getting rid of a “nuisance.” Why count a slum that should not—will not—be there? Mapping, addressing, and counting the slum dwellers was, to some, tantamount to giving them permission to stay.
