'The middle-class needs to accept their homeless neighbours'

New Delhi: Two winters back, Harsh Mander, Supreme Court (SC) Commissioner on the Right to Food, wrote to the apex court about the deaths on streets due to winter chill. Taking cognisance of the matter, the court asked the Delhi government to put night shelters for the homeless. In response, Mander said: there was a need of permanent shelters rather than night shelters; homeless would need shelters in all seasons and not only during winter; the issue was not specific to Delhi and existed in all the cities. As a convener of the National Advisory Council (NAC) working group on urban poverty, Mander lobbied for shelters for the homeless with the Centre. On Monday, the NAC mooted a proposal for providing 6800 shelters to the urban poor in 499 cities (with a one lakh plus population). Homeless comprise one percent of the urban population (where, India?). Costing Rs 4250 crore, the scheme will cover 15 percent of urban homeless in the next three years. In an interview to Firstpost, Mander talked about the proposed scheme, the challenges it is expected to face and the attitude of the state, towards what he believes, is the most vulnerable lot among the urban poor- the homeless. What is the driving force behind the proposed scheme? Harsh Mander: The Centre and the state governments have acknowledged that they have rights and duties towards the rural poor. Number of government programs such as MNREGA, National Rural Health Mission and National Rural Livelihood Mission are centered on them. This is a great thing. [caption id=“attachment_185984” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Harsh Mander: The Centre and the state governments have acknowledged that they have rights and duties towards the rural poor. AFP”]  [/caption] But for the urban poor, the premise is that they have no rights and the state has duties against them…duties to demolish, block and turn out. This is a completely unacceptable situation. Homeless people are the most vulnerable lot among the urban poor. The problem becomes worse as the state is not only neglectful to them but also hostile towards them. They live the most brutalised lives. For the last two years, states have been filing their status reports which are then corroborated by the NGOs. There is a movement in terms of realisation of the problem. Beyond this, very little has happened on the ground. What is the basis of reaching the figure of 6800 shelters? HM: The SC has mandated that for every one lakh population we should have one shelter with a capacity of 100 people or two shelters for 50 people each. Our estimate is that about one percent of the urban population in the country is homeless. This means in a population of one lakh, one thousand are homeless. Out of these, we are having shelters for one hundred. So, we are covering 10 percent population as per the SC order. We have added another 5 percent to this considering the vulnerable group among the homeless. For example, mentally ill people who need long term care. This makes it 15 percent. For 15 percent population of 499 cities (with one lakh plus population), we require 6800 shelters. What is the definition of homeless as per this scheme? HM: Homeless is a person who does not live in a census house. In other words, one who does not live in a structured house and resides on pavements, footpaths, parks and shelters. Continues on the next page How will you identify the beneficiaries of this scheme? HM: We need to do mapping which would help in creating shelters in the homeless concentration. If the shelter is strategically located and provides good services, a person would want to move into it. The shelter needs to respond to the needs of the homeless. What kind of challenges do you think the scheme will face? HM: The biggest hurdle is the lack of willingness of state governments to allocate land, resources and manpower for the powerless group which is the destitute. Another bottleneck is the enormous capacity gap or lack of understanding of the issue on part of the state governments and even NGOs. I am creating a team here in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). The team will be available as a resource to state as and when they want it. Most NGOs don’t know how to work with the homeless as it is a very difficult population. For most of them, homeless are the transient migrants. This is a wrong notion. Majority of homeless people have been living on the streets for 15- 20 years. How enormous is the problem of homelessness in India? HM: In terms of numbers it is not enormous as we talking about 3 million people. Going by the size of the country it (the issue) can be resolved. The matter becomes serious because of the depth of vulnerability that the homeless persons have reached. It is problem of complete hostility of the state towards the destitute. Whose responsibility is the destitute? HM: Primarily, the local government has a duty towards them. But municipalities have never seen serving the poor, kids and homeless as part of their work. Then the state government has the most important duty. Centre plays a facilitating role. Equally important is that the citizens at large…the middle class people…need to be more accepting of these homeless neighbors of them who share their cities. Is providing shelters a long term solution to the problem of homelessness? HM: Providing shelters is the first step to finding solutions. As of now, it is like a disaster situation for those living on the streets. The idea behind providing shelters is to take these people out of the disaster situation. This can be followed by series of housing and social security schemes. There is a perception that floating population creates pressure on the infrastructure of cities especially metros. How do you see this? Lot of people like you and I live in Delhi, but we have our roots in other states. The government never talks about blocking us. Secondly, we have an economic growth model which is centered on moving people away from primary sector to secondary and tertiary sector. In other words, the growth model pushes people to cities and results into urbanisation. Then how can we say that they are a burden on the cities? Thirdly, the homeless is a working population, just like us. They contribute in shaping the city. For almost two years now, the states have been filing affidavits in the SC on the steps they have taken regarding the homeless. But NGOs discover that most the times, the states do not do what they claim to have done. What does it reflect on the part of the states? It reflects that the states are extremely reluctant to take the responsibility of their homeless. Despite the courts orders and the court monitoring the matter, governments are not moving. How soon you expect a response from the centre on the scheme? HM: The government has not approved the same because the model code of conduct has been enforced. Hopefully, around March, the scheme will be formulated by the centre and state governments. Since the matter is in SC, we will be able to build pressure.