Nightlife for the poor is a nightmare

NEW DELHI: If you chance to cross Subhash Park, Jama Masjid Park, Yamuna Bazar Ring road, Raja Garden Ring Road at night, one common feature is a sea of people thronging the footpaths and pavements. The questions which come to mind are: why are they here? Is something being done for them? The answer to the latter is yes, but it is not enough and fewer of them are aware of it.
There are raen basera or night shelters in many areas of Delhi run by MCD and various NGOs which provide shelter to homeless.
In all, there are 12 permanent night shelters, out of which 10 are run by the MCD while the remaining two are run by AAA. Apart from these, there are ten temporary shelters and pucca structures and open tented spaces. Shelters like the one run by AAA in Chandni Chowk have facilities of first aid, coolers and a TV. The MCD-run Delhi Gate night shelter houses about twenty-two homeless but lacks the facilities available in AAA run shelter houses, even though the amount shelled out is the same amount.
Despite these efforts, homeless people can be seen sleeping on the footpaths every night. "Pehle yaha ek raen basera tha, par ab nahi hai. Hum yahi sadak par sote hai,"said Ramesh, who sleeps on the footpath near Yamuna Bazar Ring Road. Every year, just before winters, government announces locations of night shelters in newspapers. This does not help, as majority of these people are illiterate. In fact last year, no information regarding the shelters appeared in the newspapers.
"It���s not that people don���t know about it. They get to know from others, but don���t want to travel to the shelters and prefer sleeping somewhere closer to their place of work."said Deepak Hastir, director, slum and JJ, MCD. On being asked about any night shelter awareness programmes being run by MCD, he said, "The needy ones come to know by word of mouth."