Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Need of shelters for homeless' that was published in Newsband

Need of shelters for homeless

There is need for more shelters for the homeless in India. All shelters should have basic services, accessibility, habitability, location, security of tenure, affordability, cultural adequacy, freedom from dispossession, and protection from violence. Focus on the larger issue of homeless women, who are the most vulnerable and suffer the worst kinds of violence and insecurity. Other than security, the other challenge is ensuring access to proper healthcare and sanitation facilities to them.

Homelessness in India has been a problem for centuries. Homeless people can either be described as living on the streets, in prison, in an institution, or sleeping in other places not meant to be adequate night-time residences.

Some of the problems leading to homelessness include: disability (either mentally, physically, or both), lack of affordable housing, unemployment (either seasonal or through economic hardships), and changes in industry.

Jobs involving heavy industry and manufacturing (that require only a high school level of education) are being replaced by service industry jobs (which may or may not require a high level of education). Since university is less affordable for the average Indian than it is for the average North American or European citizen due to their lower per capita income level, more people in India are becoming unemployable for the jobs of the 21st century.

Homeless children under the age of 18 are subject to child abuse, forced labor (often involving picking up rags and sifting through garbage for recyclable materials), illness, and drug addiction while being stripped of their right to education and recreation. According to UNICEF, violence against children in India include neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and exploitation.

Many street children run away from their families after they were being abused physically and mentally. When they run away from their families, hoping that they will have a better life, these children face more abuses than before including child labor and prostitution. A common problem that these street children as young as 6 years face, is physical labor in which they sift through garbage seeking money to buy their food. These children do 20% of India's GDP work, garbage picking, luggage carrying and selling newspapers and flowers.

An increasing number of migrants looking for employment and better living standards are quickly joining India's homeless population. Although non-governmental organisations are helping to relieve the homelessness crisis in India, these organisation are not enough to solve the entire problem.

About 78 million people in India live in slums and tenements. 17% of the world's slum dwellers reside in India – making 170 million people "almost homeless". The number of nouveau riche in India are not enough to supplant the number of homeless people despite India's rapidly expanding economy.

It is estimated that more than 400,000 street children in India exist. Mainly because of family conflict, they come to live on the streets and take on the full responsibilities of caring for themselves, including working to provide for and protecting themselves. Though street children do sometimes band together for greater security, they are often exploited by employers and the police.