India's Homeless crisis situation: "Too afraid to sleep"

 
Homeless women sit amidst their belongings on a pavement in New Delhi, which has among the most homeless people in India

The phenomenon of homelessness is one of the worst forms of urban poverty and social vulnerability, and a glaring indicator of the failure of governance and the state’s commitment to a welfare state. It is tragic and unacceptable in a civilised society and independent India that a large percentage of our poor are homeless. No one wants to be homeless by choice – it is a situation people are forced into – like endemic poverty.

Manjeet Kaur cannot say exactly how old she is or how long she has lived on the pavement of a busy street in New Delhi, her belongings in plastic bags, her washing hanging on the railing.

Kaur was kicked out years ago by her husband's family in the northern Indian city of Ludhiana after a quarrel over property. She boarded a bus to New Delhi with her two young sons, going first to a Sikh gurudwara, a place of worship, for free food.

 

With no money and no one to turn to, Kaur and her sons settled on the pavement outside the gurudwara, marking their space among other families who lived there.When it rains, they cover themselves with plastic sheets.

They have little protection from the winter's cold or the summer's heat, when temperatures routinely soar above 40°C (104°F)."I had nowhere to go. The house, the land — nothing was in my name," said Kaur. "Here, the police harass us, and the locals curse us, and I'm sometimes too afraid to sleep. But we cannot afford to pay rent and the shelters are not good, so what option do we have?"

Kaur is one of at least 10,000 homeless women in India's capital, where thousands of people arrive every day from villages and small towns, looking for better opportunities Many end up in slums and other informal settlements. Others settle under bridges, flyovers, on pavements and road dividers.

Delhi, a city of more than 16 million people, has 46,724 homeless people — among the most of any Indian city — according to the 2011 census. Human Rights groups say the estimate is conservative, and that the actual figure is three times higher. They also question the reported decline in India's homeless population to 1.77 million nationwide in the 2011 census data, from 1.9 million a decade earlier.

Women constitute one of the groups worst affected by homelessness. While the phenomenon of homelessness violates the most basic of human rights for all populations, women without housing and living on the streets suffer the most severe kinds of abuse and violence. State response to the needs of homeless women is grossly inadequate and the majority of homeless women are left to fend for themselves.

Women, who are estimated to make up about 10 percent of India's homeless population, suffer the brunt of a growing crisis brought on by rapid urbanization, soaring property prices, and a critical lack of shelters and affordable housing.Compounding the difficulty is a lack of reliable data on homeless people, and homeless women in particular.

Homeless women bear the brunt, as they face more abuse and violence on the street, but have few claims over property and limited access to shelters, said Shivani Chaudhry at the advocacy group Housing and Land Rights Network in Delhi.

Many of these women have left abusive marriages, suffered sexual violence, or have been abandoned by families for mental illness or after the death of a husband, she said.

"Homeless women suffer the worst kinds of violence and insecurity, and are vulnerable to sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking," said Chaudhry. "Shelters are not a permanent solution."

"I would like to earn enough so I can live in a house with my family," said Saima, who had previously lived on the street after coming to Delhi some years ago. "But that may not be possible. This may be our only home.

However, It is unclear, how long will it take to  draw the attention of masses and government to understand the plight of one of our society’s most marginalised constituencies ???