Roof over those left out on Thiruvananthapuram streets

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of creating urban shelters for the homeless, the Social Justice Department will undertake a major survey of those left out in the streets and also those living in deplorable conditions in cities and major towns of the state. In a state like Kerala where migrant workers live in conditions that spawn diseases, the urban shelter project could turn out to be a major boon.
Though the Centre has been cutting down its share in major centrally sponsored schemes, 75 percent of the funds for the urban shelter project will come from the Centre under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM).

The major objective of the scheme is to provide the homeless access to permanent shelters including basic infrastructure facilities like water supply, sanitation, safety and security. These homes will not be the standard-issue one or two room squat concrete structures. These will be what a Social Justice official called “sensitive homes”. “These homes will cater to the needs of the especially vulnerable segments of the urban homeless like dependent children, the aged, the disabled, the mentally ill and the seriously ill by creating special sections within the shelters,” the official said. Once the homeless are protected within shelters, entitlements like social security pensions and ration could be easily distributed.

For instance, the migrant workers in construction sites live in pigsty-like conditions in makeshift camps. They are virtually outside the mainstream, with no health cards or other entitlement keys like BPL or rations cards. There is no proper floor to sleep on, and without drainage facilities, toilets overflow with human excreta. Major epidemics are said to break out from such unhygienic camps. Four types of shelters are now being planned: men’s shelters, women’s shelters, family shelters, and special shelters for the aged and the ailing. NULM has also mandated certain basic facilities like well-ventilated rooms, adequate water arrangements for both drinking and other purposes, regular cleaning of blankets, mattresses and sheets, common kitchen with necessary utensils for cooking and serving, child care facilities by linking the shelter to the nearest Anganwadi.