This is the third part of the three-part series on ‘the plight of Delhi’s homeless women’ as a part of the Justicemakers’ Writer’s Training Program, run in partnership with Agami and Ashoka’s Law For All Initiative. You can find the first and second parts here and here.
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The previous articles I wrote highlighting the plight of homeless women in Delhi explicitly mentioned the lacuna in terms of implementation of policy. There are laws, policies, Supreme Court orders, but implementation is something that’s lacking.
Any public policy that comes into existence, serves the purpose of providing better life in the society through the delivery of goods and services that are significant. It does have a very long term impact upon the people of the country shaping their future, their destiny and sometimes also their whole life.
Policies like the “National Rural Livelihood Mission” clearly states that there should be separate shelters for men, women, families, and special shelters for older persons without care, persons with mental illness, and recovering patients and their families.
But, in reality, there is an acute shortage of shelters for women, specifically women with children, pregnant and lactating women.
The scheme, although asks for basic services for the homeless, is insensitive towards the needs of women, the multiple factors that are involved in their becoming homeless, and neither does it address any structural causes of homelessness.
A noteworthy thing to question is why are the laws not getting implemented effectively? Why is it that after so many court orders and policies the issue is still not getting attention? And, why is the government especially indifferent towards it?
One reason could be that the homeless people, especially women, do not offer any electoral advantage or so as to say vote bank to any party or benefits in the long term. Maybe, that’s why the issue has been left to NGOs, social workers, activists and larger civil society.
Let’s Look At Two Potential Solutions
To this there are two very important steps that can be done. First, providing them with valid voter ID cards (such as Aadhar cards) so that they can effectively be registered as a voting citizen of the country.
If residents in any locality are able to facilitate making Aadhar cards for homeless people living nearby, that can be a game changer in the long term.
With a large number of homeless people having a voter ID or Aadhar, and their names being included in the voter’s list, any government of the region would be compelled to at least think about the issue for starters, if not work so much about it.
This could help appease or one might say bringing attention to the government to this very particular issue. This was precisely the reason the Delhi’s Election Commission, in collaboration with NGOs, managed to register 6,000 homeless people in 2012. The role of civil society especially becomes crucial here.
Another very small and short term measure could be if common people get themselves aware about the nearest shelter homes in their own locality, they can effectively manage to persuade the homeless people to go to a shelter home or even take them there (if that is possible), so that they can get at least minimum basic conditions for living.
Special Measures Needed For Homeless Women
It becomes pertinent here to note that some measures specific to homeless women should be urgently implemented, since they are doubly burdened. Here are a few of them:
- Apart from creating an adequate number of shelters for women, including recovery homes for women survivors of violence and abuse, working women’s hostels, shelters for pregnant and lactating women, more livelihood training activities for women should be initiated.
- Regular health camps must be conducted especially for women and children along with providing free supply of essential medicines to unwell people.
- Promotion of awareness on, and ensuring adequate implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005).
- Ensuring the adequate participation of women in all law and policy-making processes, including ones which are related to housing and land.
- Recognizing and protecting women’s equal rights to adequate housing, land, property, and inheritance.
In community meetings at the local/municipal/ block level, the issue of homelessness should be brought up for a discussion, so that possible solutions can be found. It is a true fact that civil society has a lot of potential and has always been at the forefront of bringing positive change.
Also, one should always remember and be aware that it is very important to empathise with the homeless. There should be no stigma attached to homelessness, about how such women are lazy and refuse to work. This is simply not true. They are often victims of situations that are outside their control.
Let’s Pause For A Minute And Think About These Questions
It is a truism that there are many structural issues involved in the issue of homelessness. Society as a whole needs to stop and think for a while.
Why is it that some people in our society have several acres of land, villas, and flats in their name and on the other hand some do not even have a roof over their head?
Why is it that some people spend most of their lives living on the streets even after so many housing policies made by the government in the first place? Do we, as a civilised society, have no responsibility towards them?
Is it only something the government should do? Or is it something the government and civil society can collectively solve?
Is the practice of justice, equity and reciprocity that brings social order and stability only a principle for the namesake for civil society? These are deeper questions every Indian must start thinking about now.