Temperature dips in Delhi but why do the homeless avoid shelter homes?

As the temperature in the national capital threatens to touch zero degrees this winter, the lowest in years, the homeless in the city find life unbearable. Thousands of them are still spending nights in the open despite the government making arrangement for shelter homes; and while one case of death due to cold has been reported in December, the fact that there were as many as 341 deaths among the homeless between January and February this year is something the authorities find worrisome. While the government claims that there is no dearth of shelters for the homeless, the latter say they do not go to night shelters as they are full of drug addicts and alcoholics, and thus particularly unsafe for families with woman members. The non-governmental organisations active among the homeless claim that the demolition of jhuggi-jhopris (slums clusters) by government agencies has added to the number of the homeless in the city. How many in Delhi are homeless? There is no accurate information on the number – surveys by the government and NGOs throw up numbers anywhere between 25,000 and 2,50,000 lakh. In 2000, a study done by the Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan (Shelter Rights Campaign for the Homeless in Delhi) had put the number at 52,765. The Census by the government next year put it at 24,966. In 2006, the Delhi Human Development Report said there were one lakh homeless in Delhi. But this figure shrunk to 46,788 in the following year. In 2008, a survey conducted by the Indo Global Social Service Society put the number at 88,410 and stated that the actual figure could be 1,50,000. [caption id=“attachment_2020139” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  A homeless woman braves the early morning chill in the old quarters of Delhi. AFP[/caption] In 2010, nearly half of the population of homeless forced to leave the city because of the Commonwealth Games. As per the counting and mapping done that year, there were 55,955 homeless people here, one third of the 2008 figure. But North and Central Delhi - two densely populated districts of the national capital - were not counted. New Delhi was also not covered. “The office of the commissioner of the Supreme Court, however, used a new technique to map the homeless and found their number to be 2,46,800. But the census in 2011 put it at 46,724 the same year,” said Indu Prakash Singh, executive committee member, Shahri Adhikar Manch, an NGO. Although the government figures did not go above 50,000, NGOs believe around 1,50,000 people are homeless in Delhi. “Based on different surveys and counting, it has been estimated that 1% of the total urban population of the national capital is homeless. It means around 1,50,000 people are not privileged enough to have roofs to face natural troubles,” said Sanjay Kumar, co-director of Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan. Are the shelters enough? The government claims that there is no dearth of shelters for these people but they prefer to sleep in the open. The fact is, for 1.5 lakh homeless, Delhi just has 222 shelters, including tents, which can accommodate 17,100 people at the most. Firstpost did a reality check of the basic hygiene, availability of blankets, beddings and lockers at these shelters. Our investigation ended up disappointed with the government’s claims. Its efforts were cosmetic at best. Most of the night shelters, especially the ones at Fatehpuri near Kashmiri Gate, Yamuna Bazaar in northeast Delhi and the Yamuna Pushta area, were overcrowded. People wrapped in blankets were stacked like sacks. Around 1,500 people, most of them rickshaw-pullers and daily wage labourers, were sleeping under a flyover Yamuna Bazaar. The permanent night shelter here can accommodate a maximum of 210 people. There were the common complaints of lack of cleanliness, drinking water, access to toilets and of victimisation by caretakers. Bajrangi and his family, who sell toys outside famous Hanuman Mandir, have made the footpath near the temple their home. “We don’t have proper blankets. It gets very cold at night,” he said. A basement near central Delhi’s Hanuman Mandir has been home to Ram Sagar Pandey for the past 25 years. The seller of trinkets and his two daughters spend their nights in the cramped space. Explaining how difficult things are, he says, “This space gets flooded with water…. The cold is a bit too biting here." However, he adds that despite the cold and the lack of amenities, he prefers the dungeon over government night shelters. “It is not possible to stay at those shelters as they are located far away. We cannot leave our things here and go to stay there. And even if we do, who is going to pay for the bus fare?” he asked. The night shelter being managed by the Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SYPM), an NGO that works for drug addicts, alcoholic and homeless, was cleaner and well managed, but overcrowded. As per the government’s instruction, it can house a maximum of 90 people at a time but when we visited it the place had 270 people. Sanjay Ghosh, supervisor of the night shelter, said, “We cannot refuse entry to those who come here in search of a safe place to sleep. Our priority is to protect people from this biting cold.” Refusing to accept Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s appeal to use night shelters, a majority of the homeless said the city’s roads are safer for them than the government aided night shelters. “Most of the occupants of the shelter homes are drug addicts and alcoholics. How can I take my young girls to a place that houses drunken people?” asked Safeena, who calls city’s pavements her home. “It is true that surviving in this freezing cold here is not easy but the only solace is we are safe here,” said the mother of three. When asked isn’t she afraid of anti-social elements, she replied, “Years of hardship has made me tough to face any untoward incident. It is not only the anti-social elements, the local police disturb us too.” Many of the homeless agreed that they will not hesitate in shifting from the place if the government provides them safe shelter homes where they can sleep and keep their belongings. Explaining why the homeless abandon night shelters and prefer to sleep on roads, people who work with them say it is because of the location, accessibility and conditions of shelters. “We have dearth of night shelters at places where there is concentration of homeless. Barring a few, most of the shelters have been built at far off places. A daily wage labourer always prefers to stay near a place where he works and therefore, people prefer to sleep under flyovers rather than going to these shelters,” said Dr Rajesh Kumar, executive director, Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SYPM), which manages 45 shelters. “Women and children do not want to stay in night shelters because there are no separate arrangements for them. The drunk occupants create ruckus and therefore, the women folk do not feel safe there,” he admitted. Our fact check and Rajesh Kumar’s words puncture the tall claims made by Minister of State for Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Babul Supriyo who had informed Rajya Sabha, based on the information furnished by the Delhi Government, that there are 12 night shelters exclusively for children with a capacity of 50 per shelter, seven shelters for women and children having capacity of 50 each, and one exclusively for girls with a capacity of 50. According to Sanjay Kumar of the AAA, which is managing 26 shelters, “irregular financial support, irresponsible government approach and non participatory work culture” are some factors that have not allowed the government to win the confidence of homeless people. The government needs to reform its policies, he said. The policy of uniform allocation of fund for all shelters ignores the size of a shelter and number of its occupants. It results in lack of funds to manage the night shelters properly. Although there is no official figure so far on the number of deaths due to cold in Delhi, the fact is 341 unidentified bodies were found from January 1 to February 15 this year. Most of the bodies belonged to the members of the homeless community, says Zonal Integrated Police Network’s website. Dr Kumar says it cannot be said that all of them died of cold only. “The immune system of the homeless becomes so weak that they sometimes fail to adopt a moderate change in the weather,” he says.