Homeless-All is not well

DELHI's population has been growing over the years, and with it the number of people braving the icy North Indian winter. Cold waves are an annual feature and so are the frozen bodies of homeless people.

According to reports in the media, in 2002 the police found 3,040 corpses during the winter. Of these, no fewer than 400 were those of people who died in a single cold wave.

However, the government has done precious little to build a comprehensive policy on urban homelessness or even conducted a proper census of the homeless.

According to a survey, in 2000 there were 52,765 people out on the streets. But we missed at least half. Currently, 12 shelters are run by the MCD [Municipal Corporation of Delhi]. Ten of these are only night shelters, and about 2,500 people can be accommodated. All of them are pay-and-use ones, with Rs.6 for 12 hours' occupancy.

Last year, about 70 deaths were attributed to severe winter cold

The total homeless population in India is 78 million (based on the 2001 Census). "This problem was more acute in Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi, which put together were reported to have 78 per cent of the houseless population," the report states.

At least 1 per cent of the population in Delhi is homeless. This means that no fewer than 140,000 people live on the streets of Delhi. This figure does not include those who sleep in carts or rickshaws or under flimsy plastic-sheet roofs.

At least one lakh jhuggis (slums) have been demolished since 2000. In Yamuna-Pushta alone, we estimate that around 50,000 people have been rendered homeless. Only 30,000 were rehabilitated.

The ultimate goal of the National Policy on Housing and Habitat is to provide the basic need of shelter for all, but until such objective is achieved, it is necessary to provide some kind of shelter to the absolutely shelterless urban poor, particularly street children, destitute women and migrant labourers, etc.



The National Slum Development Programme sanctioned Rs.14,053 lakhs to Delhi between 2000-04. The entire amount has been listed as `unspent balance'.

Palika Ashray Grih was a shelter that catered to women and was run by the AAA. But the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) took it away just before the onset of winter, rendering the inhabitants homeless again.

The government has no definite policy on housing in Delhi. we have a grave crisis of housing. Every time the municipality demolishes slums, the vast majority are rendered homeless. This is a violation of human rights.