Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to life, which emphasises the right to live a dignified life. Over the last seven years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several schemes for the welfare and the uplift of the poor have been launched. From providing free food grains, electricity connection, cooking gas to health schemes, rural housing for all, these are just some of the programmes to help the underprivileged lead a dignified life.
The structure of Indian economy is as unique as its culture and heritage. People from different states travel long distances, finally taking refuge in a city which provides them employment. The city of Surat, adjudged Best Smart City in the country, is also home to a large number of migrants and labourers. Many of them unable to afford a house, make streets and the pavements their own home.
The Surat Municipal Corporation, under the National Urban Livelihood Mission, has started an incredible initiative to build shelters for the urban homeless. The aim is to give pavement dwellers access to a safe shelter which they can call home.
Currently, there are four such shelter homes in four different areas of the city. The capacity to accommodate varies in all of them. The capacity at the shelter home in Althan is 384, in Bhestan it’s 528, SMIMER (Umarwada) is 157 and in Rander the total accommodation capacity is 380. At present, the total capacity is 1,449, and there are already plans in place to build more such homes in the future.
The people who reside in these shelter homes are often children who spend their day and night under the flyover pavement, women who are forced to live on the streets, having to search for a private space where they could change clothes and forced to walk kilometres in search for a public restroom. Many of them are also pregnant women who are forced to live on the pavement without any safety and security.
(Pic Credit: By Special Arrangement)
Sangeeta Ben was pregnant when she was brought into the shelter home. Her medical condition was not good when she and her family were rescued. After receiving proper care and treatment, she delivered a healthy baby at the shelter home.
Shelter homes are for those who have no place to live. Disabled and ill patients who have no care-givers are extended support in these homes. Shyam Rao Patil, 64, worried about his son Manish (19), who is differently abled until they found a haven in the shelter home.
Saumabhai Vasava, a senior citizen, was brought to the shelter home at SMIMER, after getting discharged from the SMIMER Hospital. Post his treatment, he was unfit to return to work and had no place to stay. He was given refuge and cared for in the shelter home which helped him recover and return back to job within 15 days.
The rescue stories not only emerge from roads, railways and flyovers, but also from awareness programmes, NGOs who knock the doors of the shelter homes for support. SMC and the Shelter Management Agency often reach out and disseminate information in hospitals and police stations where there is a higher possibility of finding homeless and needy.
The shelter also provides bunk beds for the family’s basic needs, including two meals a day, proper sanitary and washing facilities with adequate water supply, access to a nearby hospital in case of medical emergencies. There are also canteens of NGOs in some of these homes, which provide nutritious food at cheap rates.
(Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement)
The shelter also conducts periodic skill development sessions to connect the inmates with meaningful livelihood opportunities, and help them benefit from government and social security schemes to become independent. The women inmates of the SMIMER shelter homes cooked rotis to support the NGOs who provided food every day during the lockdown. Several male inmates helped cook the meals too. Shelter homes are also dedicated to providing education, a fundamental right of all children. SMC in collaboration with U&I, a volunteer-based charitable organisation, facilitates education to its inmates virtually. A total of 22 homeless children above the age of 10 attend online classes. Required gadgets like mobile, computer, and internet connectivity are provided to support their studies. Stationary and other study material kit are also provided to children.
Several workshops are also conducted to teach them employable skills, so that they can earn money and learn to sustain themselves. Workshops on Paper Bag Making, Stone Stitching, Mask Masking, Diwali Lamp Decoration are held at the shelter homes in collaboration with several local NGOs. These activities not only help the local artisans but also give them confidence.
The shelter also connects the inmates to government benefits and social security schemes in a bid to help them become independent. From helping the inmates with voter registration, issuing voter ID, Aadhaar card, ration card to assisting admission in government schools and public hospitals, the shelter homes lend a hand in the best possible capacity.
These shelter homes are a ray of hope for people who can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. The story of Ansari is truly inspiring, who once struggled to make ends meet and battled with life every day without food and security for his family. After being rescued by the shelter management agency, he stayed at SMIMER model shelter for 11 months where he secured a job, saved money to rent an apartment and moved out to live an independent self-sufficient life. It is indeed marvellous and remarkable to see how an individual can turn his life around when offered a little help and support.
This unique project undertaken by the Surat Municipal Corporation is aimed at making individuals self-reliant and competent so that they can live a life of dignity.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.)
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