File Photo: A night shelter in Delhi
In a bid to improve the maintenance of night shelters across the national capital, Delhi government has decided to give the management of 20-25 homes to a Shelter Management Agency (SMA).
"The idea is to make the concerned Shelter Management Agency responsible and answerable for the maintenance and management of night shelters and also to ensure that no homeless person lives outside," said a senior official of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).
The concept will be implemented on a pilot basis at Yamuna Pushta and adjoining areas of Central District in three clusters.
At present there are 55 SMAs manning around 180 night shelters across Delhi and each one of them is being managed by one or more NGOs which leads to different level of services being provided at different shelters.
The functions of the night shelter agencies will also involve interacting with different government and non-governmental organisations to converge the services at a single window.
It has been made an open tender and agencies have been invited to bid.
The issue of night shelters has often been raised by activists and NGOs.
As many as 1 lakh people sleep in the open at different locations across the city due to bad sanitation and infrastructure at night shelters.
The issue gets highlighted further during winters when many homeless people spend nights out in the open braving the cold due to crowded conditions at shelter homes.
DUSIB has also decided to procure 10-seater trailor mounted mobile toilet vans equipped with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed bio-digester technology at 67 identified locations.
"This technology is eco-friendly, consumes less water and discharged water from these toilet vans can be used for gardening and other purposes. The DRDO developed bacteria digests the bacteria and thus clean water gets discharged," said Chief Executive Officer of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) Amar Nath.
The proposal was approved in a recent meeting of DUSIB, Mr Nath said.