Hyderabad: The Human Rights Forum has addressed a letter to the Commissioner of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), highlighting serious deficiencies in the homeless shelter system in Hyderabad.
The organization, which has been advocating for marginalized communities, emphasizes that the situation requires immediate attention, especially in light of Supreme Court recommendations made in 2007 regarding the care of homeless individuals in urban areas.
‘Only 14 operational shelters’
The letter notes that while the then Government of Andhra Pradesh had assured the Supreme Court of establishing around 60 shelter homes in Hyderabad, only 14 are currently operational.
This shortfall is particularly alarming given that for every one lakh urban population, provisions should be made for permanent community shelters capable of accommodating at least 100 persons.
The lack of sufficient shelters has left many homeless individuals without access to safe and dignified living conditions.
During a recent visit to five shelter homes in Hyderabad—Aman Nivas Shelter Home for Men, Aman Nivas Recovery Home for Men, SES Shelter Home for Men (all located in Begumpet), and Shelter Homes for Women in Saroornagar and Uppal—the Human Rights Forum team identified several critical issues.
Key issues raised by HRF
- Location and building space: Many shelters are situated in areas that do not meet the needs of the homeless community, which tends to congregate around market areas, railway stations, and bus stands. The letter points out that three shelter homes located under a flyover suffer from water seepage during rainy seasons, indicating they are not true all-weather shelters.
- Inadequate amenities: Maintenance, water supply, drainage, and electricity are provided by GHMC, but other daily necessities such as kitchen items and medicines are sourced by NGOs running the shelters. Alarmingly, only Rs. 7,500 is allocated annually for maintaining each shelter home, which is insufficient given the number of residents.
- Misclassification of shelters: The Human Rights Forum criticizes the GHMC for classifying hospital-based shelters as part of its homeless shelter offerings. These facilities primarily serve patient attendants rather than addressing the needs of those who are truly homeless. This misclassification dilutes the effectiveness of efforts aimed at supporting the homeless population.
- Low salaries for staff: Salaries for shelter managers and caretakers also fall short compared to their counterparts in other cities. In Hyderabad, managers receive only Rs. 5,000 per month while caretakers earn Rs. 3,500—significantly less than what is mandated by government regulations.
- Lack of family shelters: The letter underscores that there are no designated shelters for families despite guidelines indicating that such accommodations should be established.
- Deaths of homeless persons in 2024: In the calendar year of 2024, so far, two deaths of Homeless persons were reported in print media. In both cases, homeless persons were murdered over a fight pertaining to a place of sleep on a footpath. These highlight insufficient homeless shelters in the city and a lack of outreach, HRF said.
- The shutdown of existing shelters: The women’s shelter home of Namalagundu was moved from there to a community hall in Boudhanagar, in the promise that the old building would be demolished and a new building would be constructed and provided for them, which was never materialized. Meanwhile, authorities decided to allocate a community hall to the police station, making residents of the Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH), shelter-less again. Women and their offspring were sent to other shelter homes at a distance. A similar incident happened at the Bible House Men’s Shelter Home in the past. These two incidents indicate the low priority given to the homeless community in Hyderabad. the organisation remarked.
In light of these findings, the Human Rights Forum has made several recommendations:
- Establish shelters in locations accessible to the homeless community.
- Restore Boudhanagar Shelter Home for Women.
- Increase salaries and budgets for running shelter homes.
- Ensure compliance with Supreme Court guidelines regarding the number of shelters.
- Conduct surveys to raise awareness about available services.
- Establish specialized shelters for families.
The letter concludes with a call to action for GHMC to prioritize the welfare of homeless individuals and address these pressing issues effectively.
