Despite shelter homes, Bengaluru's destitute are in dire straits

DH visited seven shelter homes in the heart of the city, including one that was meant for women. While these centres provide dormitory-type double-decker cots for stay, along with regular water supply, they were found wanting in many other areas.

Bengaluru: Every year, the monsoons send shivers down Tahseena’s spine, as her family’s destitution is most exposed then. She, her husband Anji and her five children have been homeless for the last two years and are residing on the streets near Coles Park in Shivajinagar. With two toddlers, she struggles for her life because they sleep and take shelter under a shop’s roof to avoid getting drenched during rains. 

Neither Tahseena nor Anji are employed and barely manage to make ends meet through odd jobs or help from others. With no Aadhar cards, Amreen, Alibu and their older sibling are unable to go to school.

Tahseena’s family is just one among the hundreds in Bengaluru that is struggling without housing facilities. Homelessness has been a pressing concern in urban areas, especially in metropolitan cities, where there is mass migration in search of jobs.

In India, the homeless include those living in open spaces, such as pavements, roadsides, railway platforms, temples and so on.

“This narrow definition impacts enumeration and diminishes the magnitude and complexity of the problem in the country,” a survey report by Project Smile Trust and Azim Premji Foundation says.

The definition by the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council is broader, terming housing as protection of the inhabitants from forced eviction, homelessness, poverty and exclusion. To address the issue, the Supreme Court directed state governments to set up shelter homes across India under the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM). 

The Directorate of Municipal Administration is the nodal agency to coordinate urban homeless programmes in city corporations and BBMP. In Bengaluru, there are 48 such shelters run by different NGOs on the BBMP’s land. Of this, five are run exclusively for women.

Reality check

DH visited seven such centres in the heart of the city, including one that was meant for women. While these centres provide dormitory-type double-decker cots for stay, along with regular water supply, they were found wanting in many other areas. 

A view of BBMP Namma Mane a destitute night shelter home on SSM Road in Murphy Town near Halasuru.

The aforementioned survey, conducted from July 2022 to August 2022, notes that only one-fifth of the 1,591 respondents preferred to live in shelter homes.

As per the operational guidelines of the Scheme of Shelters for Urban Homeless (SUH) by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in December 2013, there must be a minimum space of 50 sqft per person. However, most centres do not meet this criteria. 

Though the other recommendations include a common kitchen with necessary utensils, standard lighting and so on, there is scant regard for them in most centres. The guidelines mandate family shelters and special shelters but they are not found in the city.

Additionally, the absence of healthcare facilities means that these centres depend on different NGOs to shift patients to hospitals and attend to their needs. 

Anand, manager of a BBMP shelter home in Upparpet, sees alcoholism as one of their biggest challenges. “Most of the inhabitants are alcoholics. Some create problems because of that and need to be sent out of the shelter if the problem persists,” he tells DH. 

Asha, a caretaker at the centre in Kumbaragundi near K R Market, says one of their older inhabitants was a young man and a compulsive drinker, who shuffled between several centres across the city before becoming homeless again. 

However, Anand notes that these facilities help several people, such as caterers, junior artists in films and some agriculturists (who won’t be employed across the year), to save money. 

Syed Tousif, project manager of Project Smile, agrees that while some people are benefitted, he points out that the most vulnerable population of the homeless (those living on the streets and pavements with no/little economic resources) remain destitute.

Many may be full-blown alcoholics but these centres don’t have dedicated psychologists and social workers to properly address their concerns, he says.

“The BBMP has to set up shelter homes but is also the agency overseeing evictions. This conflict of interest is the biggest problem.” Tousif adds that there is a need for “recovery shelters”, a space that helps the destitute recoup after a spell of illness. Responding to this claim, Vikas Surolkar, BBMP’s special commissioner for health and welfare, tells DH that running the existing shelters is indeed a huge challenge.  

Healthcare hurdles

Activists, working for the upliftment of the destitute in the city, point out that though each government hospital is supposed to run a destitute ward, the homeless are not entertained and treated with dignity if they are not accompanied by the attenders. They further claim that the lack of proper identity cards deter them from seeking good medical health care. Surolkar, there is no rule mandating authentication through ID cards for treatment.  “They can contact a local health officer of each zone and alert them, we will sensitise the government health facilities.”

James, a 63-year-old who has been homeless for two decades, lost his toes in a factory accident a couple of years ago. Having been under the care of an NGO, he says the facilities at the NGO have been satisfactory.

Shelter for trans people

There has been a widespread demand for separate shelters for transgender people that are also run by members of the community. “It is a part of the BBMP budget action plan. We will submit this within a day or two and will get approvals,” Surolkar adds.