ABSTRACT
The domestic servants and poor female household heads were the least politically conscious among the informal sector poor because of their extremely poor education, gender-based traditional socialisation and very little effort by NGOs to organise them. The informal sector poor were certainly behind the formal sector poor in terms of income, housing, education and social prestige, although they had improved somewhat over the years in income terms. Nevertheless, when this income improvement is considered in the context of their deteriorating housing and environmental conditions, it is doubtful if they had gained much by coming to Dhaka city. Leaving aside the rickshaw-pullers, the level of political and social consciousness among them, including the hawkers, remained rather low. But even the rickshaw-pullers could be change agents, only if they were better motivated and educated and came to terms with gender equality through the agency of external elements.
