MPHRC seeks report over Indore municipal officials dumping elderly homeless people outside city

Indore: Taking cognisance of officials dumping homeless people outside Indore amid the biting cold, the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) has sought a report from the state’s chief secretary and senior officers of Indore, an official said on Monday. Besides the chief secretary, MPHRC chairman Justice Narendra Kumar Jain also sought a report in two weeks from Indore divisional commissioner, district collector, and Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) chief, the MPHRC official said. Indore is among 10 cities of the country selected for the drive of rehabilitating beggars under the Centre’s social justice department. On Friday, a video on social media showed municipal workers dumping some homeless elderly persons outside the city, drawing sharp criticism from various quarters.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has demanded action against IMC officials for ill-treating the homeless people. “A case of abduction should be filed against IMC staffers for forcibly taking these people away,” Madhya Pradesh Congress media cell chairman and local MLA Jitu Patwari said. He said this inhuman act was a blot on the IMC, and alleged that the civic body was trying to hush up the issue. Patwari demanded that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan constitute an all-party committee to conduct a free and fair investigation into the matter. After facing flak over this incident, the local administration has got into damage control by providing food and shelter to such people, and has asked officials to treat them with “sensitivity and humanity”. Food and bonfires are now being arranged in facilities where homeless people are provided shelter at night, according to IMC officials. Earlier, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday suspended an IMC official in connection with the incident. The civic body has also removed two temporary employees from the job.