Delhi: The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu, on Tuesday said that the government is working to provide permanent shelters to the homeless population in the country.
In a written reply to parliament said that around 9.38 lakhs people are homeless in Urban areas of the country and added 46,724 people shelterless in only the National capital.
Quoting data from the 2011 census, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said that the maximum number of 1,80,929 urban homeless are in Uttar Pradesh.
He added, Maharashtra has around 1,11,373 and Madhya Pradesh with 1,04,967 are the next two states with the most number of city dwellers without shelter.
Tokhan said the Census of India conducts an enumeration of the population in the country on a decadal basis, including homeless people.
“As per the information given by States/UTs, as of November 20, a total of 1,994 shelters with a capacity of 1.16 lakh were functional under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM). A total of 722 non-NULM shelters were functional with a capacity of 24,757,” the MoS said.
He said the operational guidelines of the Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) component of DAY-NULM prescribe systematic third-party surveys to be undertaken in cities/towns by the urban local bodies to identify the number of homeless and assess the need for shelters.
The MoS said as reported by States/UTs key challenges in providing shelters to urban homeless include the unavailability of suitable land for the construction of new shelters and the mobilisation of resources for operation and maintenance (O&M) of SUH beyond five years.
The unwillingness of the homeless to leave the place where they have been living for so long and frequent migration of the homeless people were also cited by states as challenges, the MoS said.
“However, to complement their efforts, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is administering SUH under DAY-NULM, through respective States/UTs. It focuses on providing permanent shelters equipped with basic facilities to the urban homeless,” the MoS said.