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Meant for most vulnerable group in cold wave, night shelters for homeless fail to make adequate progress

By Bharat Dogra 
Thanks to the directions of the Supreme Court and other courts, the efforts of several organizations working with homeless people, and the initiatives of some public-spirited officials, in recent years some important efforts for helping urban homeless people have been seen in India. Despite this, however, the overall condition of urban homeless people remains highly unsatisfactory, and much more remains to be done for their welfare compared to what has been undertaken in recent years.
No matter how tired we are in the course of a difficult day's work, there is always the reassuring feeling that at the end of the hard work, we will go back to sleep in the comfort of our home. But there are millions of people in our cities who simply do not have a home. The homeless of our cities suffer the most difficulties and risks. No matter how adverse the weather conditions, they generally have to spend their nights on the footpath, near railway stations or bus stops, or elsewhere under the open sky. They do not even have two yards of space to keep their clothes or minimal essential belongings, or a place to have a bath and clean up. Even a small humble hut is not accessible to them in the middle of the skyscrapers of our metro cities. Whether it is dense fog or the monsoon torrents, they bear it directly on their bodies.
The homeless people are the most vulnerable group in cold wave conditions. However, it is not correct to say that only extremely cold weather causes extreme hardship to homeless people. The rainy season is equally harsh for footpath dwellers.
So far, the provision for night shelters has made very inadequate progress at the national level, even though better results can be seen in a few big cities. In fact, at present, even reliable estimates of homeless people in different cities do not exist, on the basis of which planning for night shelters can proceed. As census estimates have not been able to count homeless people (without any address) properly, special efforts need to be made to prepare more accurate estimates of the homeless population.
Bishnu N. Mohapatra writes in his paper on the Pavement Dwellers of Mumbai, "It has always been difficult to obtain reliable data concerning pavement dwellers. ...Although living on the pavements of the city, they remained invisible and ignored. Historically, no other group in the city suffers as much from the problem of invisibility as the pavement dwellers."
Following the Supreme Court's judgment (1985) on Bombay evictions within a month, a voluntary organization, SPARC, conducted a survey covering 6000 households (27000 individuals) within the 'E' ward of this city. This survey helped to shatter the myth of pavement dwellers being a transient population who can always go back to their villages following evictions. The survey showed that nearly 13 percent of the heads of pavement dwellers' households were born in Bombay and around 60 percent of the population migrated to the city over a decade ago. Most of them walked to their workplace (hence did not burden the transport system), and the majority of them worked at below minimum wage rates (hence contributed to providing cheap services and goods in the city).
The planning for the homeless in any city should also include another category that may be called "precariously housed people" or "people on the verge of homelessness." For example, some jhuggis (shanties) are too small to house entire families, and some members of the family are effectively homeless although they have the jhuggi as an address. Some relocated families live so far from their place of employment that the main wage-earner may prefer not to go back home each day. Some people live in old, damaged houses in danger of collapsing.
A large number of deaths are reported almost every year in the cold wave sweeps of North India. One important reason for these deaths is that the number of homeless people in India is quite high, and there is a glaring shortage of night shelters for both the local homeless people and travelers who have come to the city for a short while. India badly needs a cooperative effort of the government and the civil society to meet the basic needs of homeless people, particularly to provide them with permanent and well-equipped night shelters.
A time-bound program of about five years should be prepared to provide access to shelters to all homeless persons. The government can also consider, at least on a temporary basis, the night-time use of existing government-owned buildings for providing shelter to homeless people. Those government-owned buildings that can be used as night-time shelters can be carefully identified using certain criteria. Tents can also be provided as a temporary shelter, particularly during winter, until such time as permanent shelters are created.
Some shelters that can function during the day as well as the night are also needed. These will be particularly useful for homeless workers who are employed in night shifts and so badly need rest during the daytime. The usefulness of night shelters will be increased if canteens that serve cheap but nutritious food on a no-profit, no-loss basis can be added to them. Safety aspects should receive careful attention in all shelters.
Homeless people do not have an address and they face difficulty in getting treatment at government hospitals. Therefore, visits by doctors to night shelters will be very useful for them. These doctors can give them papers recommending further treatment in government hospitals, which should be honored in government hospitals.
The distribution of sweaters and blankets among the homeless and poor is a good first step; it is the most obvious way of saying we care, but clearly, something more is also needed. After all, we do not even know whether the child to whom we give a blanket will be able to retain it or whether it will be snatched away from him. The homeless badly need more secure conditions of shelter in which they can face weather extremes, but as they live on the margins of society, they are not currently in a strong position to assert their right to shelter. So, other citizens should help them to secure their shelter rights. Apart from exerting pressure on the government for providing shelter to homeless people, citizens can also help to provide some badly needed services.
Most homeless people face severe problems in meeting the most basic, taken-for-granted needs, such as water and sanitation. These problems can be acute for women. Payments for public toilets and bathing places are generally not affordable for the poor, particularly if they are overcharged.
Some homeless people, particularly those who are chronically ill, or disabled, too old, or otherwise unable to work, frequently cannot afford to pay for their food. Some homeless people who do not or cannot buy ready-made food also face problems in cooking food.
Several homeless people face problems of liquor and drug addiction and substance abuse. Another way of stating this situation can be that these problems drive several persons towards a state of homelessness. This is a reality, but this should not be exaggerated to draw attention away from the many unjust and distorted policies that are responsible above all for homelessness (as well as a state of widespread hopelessness).
Serious as all these problems are, many homeless persons, when asked about their problems, emphasize beatings, extortions, and evictions at the hands of policemen as their biggest problem. Due to the existence of some highly unjust laws, homeless people, in particular, have become very vulnerable to being taken suddenly to beggars' homes and confined there for a long time.
In addition, there is the threat posed by gangsters and bullies on the street. It is well known that gangs engaged in trafficking are on the lookout for procuring women and children from the streets.
Keeping in view the many-sided problems and threats faced by homeless people, a comprehensive, time-bound, national-level plan for the homeless should be drawn up that, on the one hand, meets the basic needs of the homeless and, on the other hand, strengthens them as a community to protect themselves and their rights.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include "When the Two Streams Met", "A Day in 2071", "Navjeevan", and "Protecting Earth for Children"

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