DELHI’S CHILLING INDIFFERENCE

Every winter, hundreds of homeless poor people die of cold in Delhi. This year,  a conservative estimate of the number of dead hangs around 100. The inaction and lackadaisical attitude portrayed by the government towards these lives is inhumane. It definitely does not reflect the manner in which a socialist and egalitarian society thrives and so the uncertainty looming large over the fates of these homeless people must be exterminated through an action plan.

And for that it becomes vital to know the extant mechanism which the Delhi government has in place to deal with this evil in a quest to make winters as enjoyable to the destitute as it is to the rich. The adequacy and implementation of the existing laws is another concern.

As per a newspaper  report in 2010,  Delhi had 40 night shelters back then, of which 25 were run by the Muncipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the remaining temporary structures were run by the Delhi government. These structures could accommodate around 1,50,000 homeless people. Only two of these 40 night shelters were meant for women and children. And because they were not properly maintained, even the available capacity was far from being fully utilized.

Till 2010,  MCD used to have a “Slum Dweller and JJ Department” which was overtaken by the Delhi government through passing of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board  (DUSIB) Act, 2010. The objective of this Act was to form a DUSIB board which would provide shelter to the people living in slums and JJ colonies. The name must have rung a bell in your mind. Yes, the night shelter scam of Rs. 20 Crore about which we heard in January this year was perpetrated by the Babus working in the DUSIB constituted under this very Act. The scam had been unfolding over two decades and finally was discovered in January this year. The long overdue CBI inquiry is now underway and let us hope that the guilty get punished. So, the problem here is not of inadequacy of law but of implementation.

Delhi's poor fight the dipping mercury

Possible remedies by the enforcement of existing law or through PIL

In 1990 while deciding Shantisar Builders v. Narayan Khimlal Totale, [AIR 1990 SC 630] it was laid down by the sentinel of our fundamental rights, the Supreme Court of India that the right to decent environment and reasonable accommodation to live in is a subset of our bigger right, i.e., right to life. The Court went on to observe that the difference between a human being and an animal is, that for the latter, mere protection of its bare body serves wells but the former needs much more (suitable accommodation allowing to him to grow physically, mentally and intellectually). But what we see in practice is glaring indifference! Delhi government has not even afforded protection to the bare bodies of its people from the wrath of the weather.

Again in 1995, the apex court, in State of Karnataka v. Narasimhamurthy [1995 (5) SCC 524] held that right to shelter constitutes a fundamental right  under Article 19(1)(e) of the Constitution (which provides that all citizens shall have the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India) in the manner that the State has to provide facilities and opportunity to build houses for poor, who otherwise will be unable to exercise their right under article 19(1)(e). Moreover, land acquired by the state for the purpose of housing the underprivileged was interpreted as a public purpose under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The court went to the extent of saying that it is a constitutional duty of the State to provide house sites to the poor.

There is a legion of other Supreme Court and High Court judgments recognizing the right to shelter of all citizens which hold that the right finds its genesis in the conjoint reading of article 19(1)(e) and Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

Moreover on 9^th Jan, 2012, acting upon a PIL filed by Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties, Supreme Court issued a directive to the Delhi Government thereby asking it to ensure that  no deaths were caused because of cold.

To conclude, the problem can be remedied by concerted executive act under the DUSIB Act, 2010 or by petitioning Supreme Court by vigilant citizenry or NGOs like PUCL. But something must be done because our inaction is costing us human lives….