Abused and vulnerable, the plight of over a lakh men, women and children living on the streets of the Capital does not seem to be improving with yet another case of rash and negligent driving. The incident left 13 homeless persons injured and one dead at Nigam Bodh Ghat on Ring Road on Sunday night.
A recent study positions the number of homeless residents at 1,80,000 in the city. Speaking about the spread of the homeless in Delhi, Sunil Kumar Aledia of the Centre for Holistic Development (an NGO working in the area of rights for homeless) said: “There is a concentration of homeless and those who sleep on the streets (pavements, road sides, road dividers, bus stands) in North and Central Delhi. This is because we have areas including Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk and the railway station close by, which attracts and offers employment opportunity to those coming here.’’
An extensive study titled ‘Homeless Survey-2010’ conducted by the Delhi Government and the United Nations Development Programme notes that a majority of the homeless are men and young adults. Those in the 21-30 age brackets form a bulk of those living on the streets, while the 31-40 age bracket forms the second largest group.
“The majority of homeless people are working and are productive citizens of the city; the motivation to migrate is a result of the poor state of the rural economy. Most of the homeless sleep on the pavements and at workplaces, cook their own food and a large number of homeless are children. Harassment from the police is the major problem homeless face besides facing other difficulties,” noted the survey.
