: After reports of ten homeless people dying in the past three days due to the cold wave in the Capital, the Delhi government has spruced up efforts to make sure no further damage is done.
On Friday night, teams of district SDMs took a round of the various night-shelters across the city to see the condition of homeless people. They found out that many people were not ready to live inside the shelters. While some said that they are more comfortable living outside, others said that care-taker asks for money to let them stay.
“At a night shelter in ISBT Kashmere Gate, we found some people who were not ready to go inside the shelter. When we asked them the reason, they told us that the care-taker is asking them for money. On confronting the care-taker, he denied the charge. We have now asked the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) to conduct an inquiry into the allegation because such complaints have come from other places in the past as well,” said Central Delhi District Magistrate Ankur Garg.
DUSIB on the other hand claims that money is not the reason that is stopping the homeless from taking asylum in the shelters.
Bipin Rai, a member of DUSIB said: “The main reason why homeless people chose to stay out is because many people give donations, things like blankets and food, sometimes money also.”
“However, we are trying to discourage this practice. We have employed a team of volunteers who are going around at night to educate the homeless to not accept donations and live inside the shelters meant for them,” he added.
Mr. Rai also said that after the chill is back in the Capital for the last one week, the department has spruced up its efforts to make sure that no more homeless deaths are reported.
“We are trying to open more recovery homes for people who are unwell and making sure that the doctors visit them every day. In December this year we have set-up 245 new shelters and deployed 20 rescue teams in various areas,” he added.
Delhi has been experiencing a cold spell for the last week with Friday being the coldest day this season as the minimum temperature settled at 4.2 degrees Celsius.
Govt. has deployed teams to ask the homeless to live in shelters, and not accept donations
