Homeless Sitting on the Cold Concrete, a Crisis

More than 3 million men, women and children in India’s capital city are homeless. They choose to sleep on the streets regardless of the weather. As I write, it is 3:45 a.m. in Delhi and the temperature is 43° F.
Delhi offers shelters of various types for its homeless population. Some shelters are available in permanent buildings, others are in portacabins and some are tent structures.

Many of these people have made their way to the bustling urban area hoping to find work and a way out of their misery. Their dreams come crashing onto the concrete when they discover they lack the education and skill sets required for jobs in the city. By the time they realize how desperate their situation is, they don’t even have a way to pay rent for a roof over their heads in the city’s slums.

So, they sleep on the streets, some in makeshift tents but most with nothing but their clothes and, perhaps, a tarp or mat to sleep on. The Sleep Number® on their ‘beds’ is zero.

Sadly, many of these people eschew the idea of sleeping in the crowded shelters, most of which are provided by NGOs under contract to the city. Each person is allotted only 50 square feet of space.

Many choose to sleep in the street because of the drunken brawls, theft, rape and other crimes rampant in the shelters. Earlier this year, rescue teams from the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) reported that more than 1,100 people sleeping on the streets around the city refused to relocate to shelters. The Hindustan Times said they cited reasons such as unhygienic conditions, fear of theft, lack of space and brawls involving junkies.

Our hearts break as we read about circumstances beyond the scope of our comprehension. However, our inability to grasp the situation makes it no less real. We barely have words adequate to explain their state of affairs.

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