In a shocking revelation by the Delhi Government, as many as 33,000 homeless people have perished on Delhi streets since 2004 due to various reasons, according to the latest Union home ministry report.

According to the data released by the zonal integrated police network under the union ministry, 33,518 homeless people died in Delhi between January 2004 and October 2015. This means roughly 9 homeless people die on the streets of the national capital daily. The maximum deaths were reported in June as 3, 695 homeless died in this particular month during these years.

The dearth of night shelters was one of the major reasons for the high number of deaths which has worsened the problem of survival for these street people, according to Sunil Kumar Aledia of the Centre for Holistic Development

“There are nearly 150,000 homeless people in Delhi, of which only 4,890 get shelter. This is a mere 3.2 percent of the homeless population in the capital city. The rest are left to fend for them squeezed into limited spaces available otherwise, running the risk of contracting diseases. They often sleep on the roadside that increases the chances of accidents,” Aledia said. “Homeless people died of communicable diseases and malnutrition. Such diseases are caused by a lack of basic amenities and hygiene,” he further added.

Aledia further said, “Not to talk of the people living on the roads, even those living in shelter homes do not get basic facilities there, which makes them prone to several fatal diseases. Only 82 of the 184 shelters in Delhi were permanent and remaining 102 were temporary. This accounted for the shelter space deficiency for them by 87.4 percent of the Delhi Master Plan-2021 norms.”

As per the Master Plan, nearly 19,37,520 square feet of space is required in the national capital to provide shelter for its homeless whereas the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), which runs the shelters across the city, has only 2,44,507 square feet of space available at present. The National Urban Livelihood Mission’s Scheme for Shelters for the Urban Homeless (NULM-SUH) talks of providing 50 square feet of space per person. Going by the NULM-SUH guidelines, only 4,890 people can be accommodated in the available space, though DUSIB claims to cater to 25,000 people by making available 9.7 square feet of space per person in the shelters, Aledia added.

Moreover, many city shelters lack basic amenities, including separate toilets for men and women, potable water and security. Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal, along with DCW member Sarika Chaudhary and two volunteers, recently made surprise visits at a few  night shelters run by DUSIB in Nizamuddin and Jama Masjid areas and came across several anomalies in their functioning.

“There were very few toilets. There were no separate toilets for women. Night shelters meant for men and women are adjacent to each other in the same complex, with no security restrictions. I have written to the director of night shelter, DUSIB, T.K. Meena regarding the anomalies and asked for a detailed point-wise status report, including steps to be taken to improve the situation,” said Maliwal.

This data about the status of urban homeless poor in the capital of the country is a telling commentary on our so-called ‘pro-poor’ policies. This is a very strong message for the current Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, who claims to be the biggest champion of the common man.