Delhi’s Homeless Still wait Adequate Living Conditions

Justice Delayed, Justice Denied:

Delhi’s Homeless Still wait Adequate Living Conditions

29 May  2012, New Delhi:

In a press conference organised  by

Shahri Adhikar Manch: Begharon Ke

Saath  (SAM:BKS) in  the  capital  today,  human  rights  activists  and  homeless  citizens  raised  several issues of concern related to homelessness in Delhi.

Indu  Prakash  Singh,  SAM:BKS  member  and  technical  advisor  at  Indo-Global  Social  Service  Society, provided an overview of the situation of homelessness, including recent positive developments such as the President of India’s announcement of a

National  Programme  for Urban  Homelessness,

the  National

Advisory Council’s recommendations for the homeless, and progressive orders from the Hon’ble High

Court  of  Delhi and  the  Supreme  Court  of India.  In  spite  of  these  developments,  the  Delhi  government

has  failed  to respond to the needs of the city’s over 150,000 homeless people He said, “Despite

announcing  plans  to  improve  living  conditions  in  shelters,  Delhi  Urban  Shelter  Improvement  Board

(DUSIB) has not taken appropriate action to date. This delayed response amounts to a gross violation of

a bundle of human rights of  the  homeless whom we call CityMakers,  as the city  is built on their sweat,

labour  and  subsidised  services ” He mentioned the,  “preposterous  plan  of  the  Delhi  Development

Authority (DDA) to amend Master Plan Delhi-2021 to reduce the number of homeless shelters from one

per  one  lakh  population  to  one  per  five  lakh  population.  This  would  reduce  the  requirement  of  160

permanent shelters in Delhi to 32 shelters and is in direct violation of court orders.”

Ashok Pandey

from Beghar  Mazdoor  Sangharsh Samiti, also a SAM:BKS member, described  the  grossly

inadequate  living  conditions  in  the temporary  shelters.  Constructed  for  the winter, these  tin  shelters,

which  were  like  cold  storage  boxes  have  become  virtual  ovens  in  the  summer  and  are  largely

uninhabitable.  “There is still no drinking water,  toilets  or  fans  in  any  of  the  tent  and  tin  shelters.

Without electricity, how can any fans or lights be installed? The heat is unbearable, people cannot sleep

at  night.  Our  shelter  in  Kudusiya  Ghat  is  infested  with an army of mosquitoes You can’t stand for a

minute  without  being  bitten.  This  is  an  acute  health  hazard  for  the  homeless,  especially  for  children

who are most vulnerable,” he said

Ishwar Chand

, another SAM BKS member, added, “The absence of

water  and  sanitation  facilities  poses acute  problems  for  homeless  women  and  children  and  threatens

their security. Mobile health vans, despite High Court orders, do not visit most of the shelters ”

Abdul  Shakeel

,  member  of  SAM:BKS  and  Haq,  drew  attention  to  the  struggle  of  homeless  citizens  in

Delhi  for  ration  cards  and  adequate  grain  entitlements  under  the  Public  Distribution  System  (PDS),

which  they  are  consistently  denied.  Establishing  their  identity  is  a  critical  issue  for  the  homeless.  He

stated that, “The failure of the state to provide the homeless with voter identity cards violates their

right to political participation ” He  highlighted the economic burden faced due to DUSIB’s consistent

late  payment to  caretakers  of shelters,  many  of  whom  are  homeless  citizens. He  also  spoke  of  recent

forced evictions carried out by the Delhi government at Chilla Khadar and Baljeet Nagar, “which  are

resulting in more and more people becoming homeless in Delhi ”

Zubeida

,  a  woman  who  was  rendered  homeless  after  being  evicted  from  Viklang  Basti  before  the

Commonwealth Games, spoke about the acute problems that her family has had to face “The

government  demolished  our  homes  without  any  notice  and  did  not  provide  us  with  any  alternative

housing  or  compensation.  We are now forced  to live  on  the  streets without any shelter,  basic services,

privacy or security. We have no one  to approach or no means to seek  justice in  this city. The city does

not seem to care about the poor.”

SAM:BKS member and associate director of Housing and Land Rights Network,

Shivani Chaudhry

, stated

that, “Both the High Court of Delhi and the Supreme Court of India have, in several  interim  orders,

called  for  the  construction  of sufficient  and  adequate  permanent  shelters  for  the  homeless.  The  High

Court had asked the government for a long-term plan and called for permanent shelters to be set up by

December  2010.  A  year  and  a  half  later,  the  government  is  still  focusing  on  makeshift,  dysfunctional

temporary shelters, that too at a cost of Rs. 3,00,000 per shelter. We are extremely concerned about the

attempts of  the Delhi  government to  further  marginalise the  homeless by  proposing  plans  to relocate

them to the outskirts of the city in areas such as Kanjhawla and Narela. This would violate not just their

right  to  housing  but  also their right to work/livelihood The government’s repeated abrogation of its

legal obligations to implement court orders and uphold the Constitution of India and international law,

is disturbing ”  She further added that, “Providing shelters is just the first step in a continuum of housing

rights;  the  ultimate  goal  of  the  government  must  be  to  provide  low  cost,  adequate  housing  for  the

homeless ”

Amita  Joseph

,  SAM:BKS  member  and  director  of  Business  and  Community  Foundation,  regretted  that

despite  the existence of  a  Joint Apex  Advisory Committee  (JAAC), a  Mother NGO (MNGO) and  positive

orders from the High Court of Delhi and the Supreme Court of India, the condition of Delhi’s homeless

has not improved significantly.   Shahri Adhikar Manch had submitted  to the government  a  short-term

plan  (in  February  2010)  and  a  long-term  plan  (in  September  2011),  with  human  rights-based

recommendations, but these do not seem to have been considered.

On behalf of SAM:BKS, Ms Joseph presented the following demands from the Government of Delhi:

-

Immediately improve temporary shelters to make them habitable, including providing electricity,

fans, drinking water, toilets, healthcare, and mosquito repellants;

-

Establish an independent committee to monitor the functioning of all homeless shelters;

-

Conduct  an  audit  into  the  expenditure  of  the  government  on  temporary  shelters,  and  provide

information on the process of design selection and contractors, and details on exact spending;

Implement the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and High Court of Delhi, especially

-

related to creating

year-round, twenty-four hour

permanent

shelters (160 shelters as per the

requirement  of  one  shelter  per  one  lakh  population)  and  preparing  a

long-term  plan

for

addressing homelessness in Delhi;

-

Make available vacant government buildings and unused premises for homeless shelters;

-

Withdraw the proposal of the DDA to amend the Master Plan Delhi-2021 to reduce the number of

homeless shelters from one per one lakh population to one per five lakh population;

-

Conduct regular meetings of the Joint Apex Advisory Committee and implement its decisions; and,

-

Prevent forced evictions that violate the right to adequate housing and result in homelessness.

Speakers stressed their commitment to working constructively with all agencies in order to ensure that

the human right to adequate housing of Delhi’s homeless is protected. Delhi has the opportunity to be a

model  for  other cities  across  India  with regard  to  providing  services  for  the  homeless  and  upholding

their  rights.  It  is, therefore,  crucial  for  the government  to  adopt  a  positive  rather  than  an  adversarial

approach and fulfill its national and international legal obligations.

For more information, please contact:

Indu Prakash Singh (9911362925); Ashok Pandey (9716436605);

Bipin Rai (9999046469); Shivani Chaudhry (9818 205234)

Shahri  Adhikar  Manch:  Begharon  Ke  Saath  (SAM:BKS)  is  a  Delhi-based  collective  of  over  30

organizations and social movements, including homeless citizens. SAM:BKS works to promote and

protect  the  rights  of  the  homeless,  as  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  of  India  and  international

human rights instruments, and to ultimately secure adequate housing for all homeless people. For

more information, write to:

shahriadhikarmanch@gmail.com

.