DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

SABBAVARAM, VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

PROJECT TITLE: SHELTER LESS POPULATION

SUBJECT: SOCIOLOGY-2

NAME OF THE FACULTY: MR. LAKSHMIPATI RAJU SIR

Name of the Candidate: S. KRISHNA VAMSI

Roll No.: 2017095
Semester: 2

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to MR. LAKSHMIPATI RAJU

SIR who gave me the golden opportunity to do the project of ‘Shelter less Population’ , which
also helped me in doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things I am
really thankful to them.

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 ABSTRACT

SHELTER LESS POPULATION

Introduction:

Shelter less population is people who are living without any residence and
people living road side and who doesn’t have any house to live. People live with families on
road, they don’t have any fixed shelter and they change their place of living whenever the
government issues an order or shows another place to live.

Research problem:

Reduction of people who live along the road or people who live without shelter and
causes for people living on roads and without any shelter will also be seen thoroughly in the
project.

Identification of variable:

 Dependent variables: homeless people, people living on roadside, government subsidies.

 Independent variables: poverty, illiteracy, low wages, over rents.

Hypothesis:

1. Are there any policies or schemes for people who are shelter less?
2. What are the causes for shelter less population?

Testing hypothesis:

Testing hypothesis is by looking into legislation. If there are rules and legislations
made for the shelter less population and to find the causes for people living without any shelter
then we can conclude that our hypothesis is proved.

Research opinion:

The research opinion of project ‘shelter less population’ is that many people are
becoming shelter less due to many reasons and few policies regarding it came into force.

Conclusion:

Many people now-a-days are becoming shelter less, most of them are around
urban areas and few policies and schemes were made regarding it. Shelter less population had
been reduced around few urban areas due to implementation of schemes.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………. 5

2. DEFINITION OF HOMELESSNESS……………………………..…………………….. 6

3. POST COLONIAL HOMELESSNESS ……………………………..………………….. 8

4. CAUSES FOR HOMELESSNESS ………………………………...………………….. 10

5. HOMELESSNESS IN INDIA …………………………………………...…………….. 13

6. EFFECTS OF SHELTERLESS POPULATION ……………….……………………… 15

7. PROVISIONS/ SCHEMES ………………………………………...………………….. 17

8. CASE LAWS ……………………………………………………………………….….. 18

9. CONCLUSION ………………………………………………..……………………….. 20

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………..……….. 21

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 1. INTRODUCTION

According to the 2011 Census, there were 1.77 million homeless people in India, or 0.15% of the
country's total population. There is a shortage of 18.78 million houses in the country. Total
number of houses has increased from 52.06 million to 78.48 million(as per 2011 census). The
rise, he said, has "happened because of the liberal loan given by the banks. The census figures of
2011 show that in total India has 78.87 million households in the country against which it has
78.48 million houses which means there is a shortage of just 0.39 million houses in the entire
urban area. However, it still ranks as the 124th wealthiest country in the world as of 2003. More
than 90 million people in India make less than $1 USD per day, thus setting them below the
global poverty threshold. The ability of the Government of India to tackle urban homelessness
and poverty may be affected in the future by both external and internal factors. The number of
people living in slums in India has more than doubled in the past two decades and now exceeds
the entire population of Britain, the Indian Government has announced. The number of people
living in slums is projected to rise to 93 million in 2011 or 7.75 percent of the total population
almost double the population of Britain. Prior to the release of Slumdog Millionaire in 2008,
Mumbai was a slum tourist destination for slumming where homeless people and slum dwellers
alike could be openly viewed by tourists.

India’s urban homeless population is growing. Over 1 lakh (100,000) of the urban population has
become homeless in the last decade. The number of urban homeless is expected to exceed that of
rural homeless population. The urban population of homeless is 9.42 lakh which is an increase
of 1.64 since 2001, compared to rural population which is at 11.65 lakh. Migration is the main
reason for the homelessness because the people that move to work in new places do not have a
home to live in. New Delhi has recorded a 95.5% increase of urban homeless in the last decade.
“State-wise data shows Uttar Pradesh recorded a decade on decade growth rate of 87.2% and
Chandigarh recorded 54.2% in the last decade. Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala in addition to most northeastern states, have all recorded
increasing growth rate in urban homeless population.” N Bhaskar Rao of Centre for Media
Studies in Hyderabad said it is a myth that homeless urban population lives better, when in fact
the living conditions for the urban population is worse than that of the rural population.

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 2. DEFINITION OF HOMELESSNESS

Other countries other than India have widened the definition to include people sleeping in
institutions meant for those without any form of shelter. This is the case for definitions used in
the USA, India and France. For example, in the USA, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless
Assistance Act of 1987, defined ‘‘homeless’’ to mean:
(1) An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence; and
(2) An individual who has a primary night-time residence that is: A supervised publicly or
privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including
welfare hotels, congregate shelter, and transitional housing forthe mentally ill); An institution
that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or A public
or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodations for
human beings.
(3) This term does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained under an Act of
Congress or state law. (USA, 1994, p. 22). This rather narrow definition of homelessness equates
to the two groups in Europe who would be sleeping rough or in a public shelter. The use of the
term ‘adequate’ does, however, leave room to extend the focus to those whose housing can be
deemed to be inadequate. Their situation, which for the most part corresponds to a narrow or
literal definition of homelessness, also implies the absence of community and family ties,
privacy, security, and the lack of shelter against the elements (FEANTSA, 1999). However,
writing on behalf of FEANTSA, Avramov (1996) prefers a wider definition which also includes
the value-laden term ‘‘adequate.’’
Homelessness is the absence of a personal, permanent, adequate dwelling. Homeless people are
those who are unable to access a personal, permanent, adequate dwelling or to maintain such a
dwelling due to financial constraints and other social barriersy (Avramov, 1996, p. 71, in
FEANTSA, 1999, p. 10). Adequate housing is now defined by the United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UNCESCR) in the following terms:
As both the Commission on Human Settlements and the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year
2000 have stated: ‘Adequate shelter meansyadequate privacy, adequate space, adequate security,
adequate lighting and ventilation, adequate basic infrastructure and adequate location with regard
to work and basic facilities—all at reasonable cost.’ Article 11 (1) (UNCESCR, 1991). The lack

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of data on homelessness in developing countries means that much of the current debate lacks an
empirical foundation, without which the suitability of Western definitions and typologies cannot
be assessed. We have difficulty, for example, in accepting that all who are not ‘‘adequately
housed’’, in accordance with the above, could be regarded as homeless in developing country
contexts. Just because a household is crowded by some definition does not automatically and
universally render it homeless. For example, we found in previous work that 73% of all
households in Kumasi, Ghana, live in single rooms and there is a city-wide mean occupancy rate
of 3.3 persons per room (Tipple & Willis, 1991). Although most at or near the mean might
regard their housing as inadequate, residents of Kumasi would not generally regard themselves,
nor would they be regarded, as homeless because of the crowding.1
In India and other developing countries reference is often made to houselessness, rather than
homelessness. The emphasis is thus placed on those without any form of shelter (houseless
people) rather than including those living in temporary, insecure or unsatisfactory
accommodation (homeless people). The latter definition is more often used within developed
nations. In contrast, developing nations are more likely to concentrate on the most extreme cases
of housing need.

In this context hidden homelessness has two meanings. The first is that rural homelessness
(in India as elsewhere) often remains hidden because of the lack of studies of the phenomenon,
in contrast with the greater attention paid to urban homelessness. The second meaning of hidden
homelessness refers to the homeless people who live with other households in rural areas.
Because their housing need is not officially registered, they remain an invisible or hidden
population.2

1
‘Definitions of homelessness in developing countries’ Article in Habitat International · June 2005
2
ibid

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 3. POST COLONIAL HOMELESSNESS

The urban population of homeless is 9.42 lakh which is an increase of 1.64 since 2001, compared
to rural population which is at 11.65 lakh. Migration is the main reason for the homelessness
because the people that move to work in new places do not have a home to live in. New Delhi
has recorded a 95.5% increase of urban homeless in the last decade.
While it is often dangerous to romanticize a rural, agrarian ideal, India’s economy before
colonization had a much more dispersed population as so much of the economy depended on
rural agriculture. Colonization drastically changed that agrarian ideal, and set India on a 200-year
course to modernize, a push that only intensified after decolonization with Britain. As India
sought to compete with its former imperial masters, the cities flooded with people looking for
factory work and service jobs, even without the prospects of a home. This had a two-fold effect:
urbanization and industrialization complicated environmental problems and those increasing
numbers of people without homes bore the brunt of these environmental catastrophes in
increasingly violent ways. I argue that the economic legacy of colonialism in India continues to
contribute to the high level of homelessness as to deadly effects of natural disasters. This paper
will look at the occupation of India by Britain, shift to India after decolonization, and end with
the last thirty years of record homelessness and natural-disaster causalities. Britain’s purpose in
their occupation of India was strictly economic. That is why they only westernized the country to
a limited degree. British occupiers wanted a monopolistic control of the trading position, and
later realized that India would make a major market for British goods and raw materials. The
capitalists that invested banking services or shipping services began to enjoy the monopoly they
incurred. “Control of India was a key element in the world power structure, in terms of
geography, logistics and military manpower.” The British were not opposed to the economic
development if it increased their markets, but they did not help out where there were problems
with their own economic interests. They avoided helping India’s textile manufacturing until
Japan became a competitor and not Manchester. The main change Britain imposed was on the
top elites of the society. “They replaced the wasteful warlord aristocracy by a bureaucratic-
military establishment, carefully designed by utilitarian technocrats, which was very efficient in
maintaining law and order.” One of the most significant things the British did to westernize
India, was to introduce modified versions of English education. They established the English

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education because Britain wanted a body of citizens that would interpret between them and those
they governed. They wanted people that are native at blood and color, but have morals, intellect,
and opinions of the English. The British failed at westernizing India, so they separated
themselves from the Indians into their own caste. In 1805 the British only had 31,000 people in
India, and around 22,000 were in the military and about 2000 were in government. The number
did substantially increase until the rebellions begun, then the number remained steady.

From 1757 to 1947, there was no increase in India’s per capita income. “In the last half of the
nineteenth century income probably declined by at least 50 percent.” In 1770 the Bengal famine
devastated eastern India causing approximately ten million deaths, which would set back
agricultural production for decades. “The famine was partly due to deficient monsoon which
caused food shortages, and the East India Company officials helped strip the country side of food
at the time of heightened vulnerability.”

Moving to the next large famine, the widespread famine of 1876-78 forced India’s government
to acknowledge it had an obligation to protect its citizens, even under laissez-faire. “In January
1877 it declared that ‘human life shall be saved at any cost and at any effort; no man, woman of
child shall suffer from starvation,’ though it added: ‘Distress they must often suffer; we cannot
save them from that. We wish we could do more, but we must be content with saving life and
preventing extreme suffering.’” The 1880 Famine Commission declared that in a crisis if an
individual cannot get relief for themselves, it becomes the states duty to provide the certain
assistance they need during for the people in times of famine. These relief measures were unable
to prevent the famines that happened between 1896 and1901.3

3
‘ Homelessness in India During and Post Colonial Rule’ January 20, 2016 Gurinder Narwal

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 4. CAUSES FOR HOMELESSNESS

The causes of rural homelessness are both simple and complex. Put simply, poverty and
landlessness are the prime causes of rural homelessness. In a more complex form, we may see
that rural and urban homelessness are intimately connected. Typically, rural poverty may cause
the male members of households to migrate to urban areas in search of work (Dupont, 2000).
They then remit money to the family left at home, who continue to reside there often in
impoverished and insecure circumstances. Seasonal migration may also occur when work is
available on the land, but few of these migrants return permanently to their villages – and nor do
their family members usually join them in the cities. In terms of gender, relatively few women
will migrate to urban areas, given the social restrictions against women living a life away from
familial controls. Those who do leave their villages are often those fleeing familial abuse (from
in-laws as well as husbands), or else young women entering into the sex trade (Nussbaum, 2000).
Children who leave their home villages have also often been victims of family violence, or else
they may be trafficked into the begging or sex trades (Nair and Sen, 2005; Orchard, 2007). As
well as the poverty and insecurity experienced at the individual and family level, it is often the
case that natural disasters or various forms of social upheaval cause largescale rural melessness,
often on a scale unimaginable in Western terms. For example, up to 600,000 people were made
homeless by the Gujarat earthquake in 2001 (Times Higher Education, 2003), while 275,000
houses were destroyed in the 1999 Orissa cyclone (Rediff On The Net, 1999).4 The most recent
and largest-scale disaster was the flooding of the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka in 2009, when 2.5 million people were made homeless. In one area alone, around
200,000 people were displaced from 100 villages along the Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh
(Reuters, 2009). Annually around 30 million people are affected by disasters, with 2.34 million
houses being lost, which is around 1% of the total housing stock of 233 million houses (Census
of India, 2001; Chauhan, 2009). (See Figure 5 for a map of India indicating locations mentioned
in the text). Other disasters and upheavals have been created by people rather than geological
events. For example around 100,000 people have been displaced by the building of the Tehri
dam in Uttaranchal, northern India, many remaining homeless for years as disputes are entered

4
‘Rural homelessness in India’ in (2012) Susan J.Smith (ed) International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home.

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into regarding compensation for lost land (Chauhan, 2005; Thai Indian News, 2009a) (See
Figure 6). These figures are replicated in other major infrastructure projects across the country
(Roy, 2002). Social conflict may also cause widespread displacement and long-term
homelessness (Seshadri, 2008). Insurgency campaigns in Kashmir and the Northeast states have
displaced many thousands of people, while about 150,000 people were made homeless - staying
in around 100 relief camps - following the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 (Frontline, 2002).

Among the objective reasons there is an aggravation of the economic situation (production
stagnation, inflation, falling of a living standard) and political instability. At a more concrete
level, it is possible to allocate the following reasons of the homelessness:

1. Natural and social disasters such as earthquakes, floods, ethnic conflicts, etc.

2. Economic instability (unemployment, low income, shortage of cheap housing and so on).

3. Most part of the homeless people consists of the former prisoners who cannot get a job and
housing.

4. Victims of criminal frauds with housing. There are many ailing old men who were forced to
sell their apartments because of different circumstances, and now they are compelled to wander.

5. Family disorders or violence in a family, which caused people to leave their houses.

6. A so called “natural” layer, which includes alcoholics, addicts and insane people.

7. A personal choice.

The homeless people estimate the reasons of their situation in the following way: “homeless
partly because of some circumstances and partly because of the weak will – 42 %”; “homeless
because of the weak will – 31.5 %”; “homeless because of insuperable circumstances – 25.5 %”.5

Under the city conditions, the main occupations of the homeless people are begging, collecting
and selling of bottles, unloading of cars, cleaning of commercial tents, cars, etc. Elderly men and
women and disabled people are engaged in begging, as a rule; those who have small children
count on a handout. It is also necessary to note that the homeless environment consists generally

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of men. Women make only 10-15 % of the homeless people. The homeless women live mostly at
the expense of prostitution. The family budget of the homeless people is absent.

Homelessness often leads to the stress, mental disorders and abuse of psychoactive substances;
an abuse of alcohol is the most widespread. Incidence of tuberculosis among the homeless
people is at least in 25 times higher than among the whole population. There are also a lot of
AIDS victims among the homeless people, who have a risk to catch this disease more than in 10
times in comparison with the urban population as a whole. Besides, the homeless people, as a
rule, cannot get an adequate medical care or an access to treatment. Free or preferential medical
care programs, as well as other programs of the social help, are often unattainable for the
homeless people.

The connection between the homeless parents and children weakens as the parents in such a
situation cease to play a role of the tutors and supporters. The probability of the child abuse
increases in a situation when the frustrations caused by the conditions of the homelessness
exceed the level of the parental self-checking.6

6
https://essayswriters.com

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 5. HOMELESSNESS IN INDIA

An increasing number of migrants looking for employment and better living standards are
quickly joining India's homeless population. Although non-governmental organizations are
helping to relieve the homelessness crisis in India, these organisations are not enough to solve
the entire problem. Attempts at gentrifying India’s problematic neighborhoods are also bringing
homelessness levels up. Laws passed by the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai during the 1970s
and the 1980s were held by the Indian Courts to be violations of people's right to life in addition
to their right to a decent livelihood. A landmark case in 1986, however, would result in the
favour of the homeless masses of India. The first decade of the 21st century would see 75,000
people kicked out of Sanjay Gandhi National Park with the government using a massive military
force of helicopters and heavily armed police officers.

About 78 million people in India live in slums and tenements. 17% of the world's slum dwellers
reside in India – making 170 million people "almost homeless. “The number of nouveau riche in
India is not enough to supplant the number of homeless people despite India's rapidly expanding
economy. Up to 7% of homeless people in the major city of New Delhi are women. More than
three million men and women are homeless in India's capital city; the same population in Canada
would make up approximately 30 electoral districts.

There are many problems out in the world today. Among one of the many problems is
homelessness. Homelessness is a serious case, not one that should be over looked, as many other
problems are. I think many people today need to take a look at homelessness and put serious
work towards helping out. People can help the homeless everywhere, even if it is just around
your town or neighborhood. A major place in the world where homelessness is a serious problem
is India. There are 10 million street children in India alone, which is 10% of the world’s total.
That is a very bad sign for the future because not only that, but 25 new street children show up in
Mumbai Station each day (Slumdogs). In only a year there could be around 10,000 more street
children, which would keep adding toIndia’s total.7

Homelessness in India affects many people; first of all it affects street merchants. It affects them
because homeless children and adults both need to live so they steal from the street merchants.

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They mostly steal food to eat or jewels to sell for money. Now don’t go and think they are
horrible people because they steal. Trust me you would steal too if you were facing the same
harsh conditions that these poor, starving, dying kids are going through. The homeless don’t only
affect the merchants they also affect the normal every day civilian. They are affected by the
homeless because of the begging they do and the things they might try to sell to them like food,
clothes, or even jewels.

There are many reasons for street children in India. “InIndiathe caste system has created
numerous classes whose members are often locked into poverty for life” (Poverty). First there is
Abuse, many kids in India run away from their parents because they were beaten or sexually
abused. This is also bad because it can lead to other abuse with child labor and even in some
cases prostitution. This may lead to further emotional problems because of the kids blaming
themselves for what happened to them as a child. Even if a kid is rarely put back in a home
he/she is still emotionally scarred or refuses to speak for a long time (Slumdogs). This is why we
need passionate people in the world to treat and take care of these children.8

The second cause for street children in India is child labor. Child labor is a very cruel thing in
India where kids have to work whole days with horrible conditions and little pay. One job that is
very common for the street children in Jaipur to perform is called rag-picking. That is where kids
as young as the age of 6 have to work all day picking recyclable out of dumpsters. This is a very
cruel job for children to perform. Other common jobs are collecting firewood, tending to
animals, street vending, dyeing, begging prostitution, and domestic labor (Slumdogs). The final
reason for homelessness in India is because of health. Health plays a major role in the cause of
homelessness people in India. The reason health is a problem there is because of AIDS.India
homeless have a 70% of Aids. That means around 5 million homeless people have Aids alone.
Or 7 out of 10 homeless you see will most likely HIV/Aids (Slumdogs). If you don’t think that
70% is a lot of people just remember that India has One sixth of the people on this earth and is
the second most populous country ever (India Not only that but because of the lack of food and
nutrition their growth has been stunted. In India it is normal to mistake a 12-year-old for an 8-
year-old. These are really bad conditions and it would help if you could help out.9

8
https://www.indiatoday.in
9
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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 6. EFFECTS OF SHELTERLESS POPULATION

The growth of population has a direct effect on the living standards of people. This is why,
despite our spectacular progress in the agricultural and industrial spheres since independence,
our per capita income has not risen appreciably.

How has the population growth affected India? It is estimated that 25 million people (out of 1000
million people, i.e., 2.5%) are homeless, 171 million people (i.e., 17%) have no access to safe
drinking water, 328.9 mil-lion adults (i.e., 33%) are illiterate, 53 per cent children below five
years are underweight, and country as a whole has 135th position in the World Human
Development Index.

The appalling overcrowding of our cities (which like cancerous growths are mushrooming
unchecked with slums proliferating) has brought about a virtual breakdown of transportation,
electricity and other services. It has also led to the rise of crime and an in-crease in violence in
the urban and the semi-urban areas. All this has been directly fuelled by the addition of about 17
million people every year or an annual population growth rate of 2.14. 10

If the population con-tinues to increase at this rate, in a few years from now, we will have an
army of unemployed, hungry and desperate people who will threaten the very foundations of the
social, economic and political systems and institu-tions of the country.

All sectoral demands have a numerical dimension. Whether it is education, employment, health,
housing, water supply or any other sector, the perennial question is for how many? Even for the
present population of 100 crore (in August 1999), it is futile to think of jobs for all or shelter for
all or health protection programmes for all by 2000 A.D. especially when another 1.7 crore
people will have been added and, hence need to be accommodated.

It has been calculated that for every addition of about 165 lakh peo-ple every year in our country,
we will require every year 1.5 lakh primary and middle schools, 10 thousand higher secondary
schools, 50 lakh pri-mary and middle school teachers, 1.5 lakh higher secondary school teachers,
5,000 hospitals and dispensaries, 2,000 primary health centres, two lakh hospital beds, 50
10
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thousand doctors, 25 thousand nurses, 5 lakh tonnes cereals, 25,000 metres of cloth and 2.5
million houses and 30 lakh new jobs (The Hindustan Times, July 4,1997).

The impact of the population boom on the quality of life is now being examined in terms of
Household Misery Index (HMI), i.e., in terms of peoples’ deprivations and basic needs. The HMI
index has five parameters: pakka housing, safe drinking water, electricity, sanita-tion (toilets),
and fuel for cooking. Some scholars have examined it (population boom) in terms of effect on
human resources (literacy, health, etc.).

At present, 49.1 per cent people in India have no electricity in their households, 69.7 per cent
have no toilets (flush or others), 51.5 per cent have no pakka houses, and 19 per cent have no
safe drinking water. If we compare Human Development Index (HDI) on certain selected items
in India with some other countries in 1990, we notice the serious effects of increasing population
on the quality of our life.

According to 1996 UNDP report, India invests only 14 dol-lars (about Rs. 500) per person
annually on health and education unlike other developing countries like South Korea and
Malaysia which spend 150 to 160 dollars. The impact of this insufficient sum on the 36 per cent
population of our country living below the poverty line (i.e., about 34 crore people) can easily be
imagined.

What do these figures predict? The countdown for India’s great leap into the twenty-first century
has begun. In the beginning of the 1970s, there was light and hope. Then came darkness in a
Biblical reversal in the 1980s.

Population explosion, militancy and separatism gathered momen-tum. Matters touched rock-
bottom as the 1980s staggered to a close and we entered and then crossed the middle of the
1990s. What do the remain-ing fifteen months of the 1990s have in store for us?

Our country has to come to terms with the highly competitive world economy. India will be
looking for a leader who can be bold enough to take up the issue of con-trolling population
explosion seriously. Unless India can find such a leader, its future cannot be bright.11

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 7. PROVISIONS/ SCHEMES

Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) scheme:

India’s Ministry of Rural Development has undertaken the Indira Awas Yojana scheme as part of
its Bharat Nirman undertaking to improve rural infrastructure. The IAY plan has been to provide
new rural housing for houseless people, and to replace kutcha (inadequate) accommodation. The
intended recipients of this housing are the most socially and economically disadvantaged groups
in rural India.

Kutcha and pukka housing:

Kutcha (in Hindi kaccā) means something which is either temporary or of a low standard; pukka
(in Hindi pakkā) means something of a good or reliable quality. Kutcha housing is of an
inadequate standard, either in terms of the quality of its construction or its condition and
amenities. Pukka housing is considered to be of a satisfactory standard.

Housing and Urban Development Corporation:

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) is a government-owned

corporation in India. One of the public sector undertakings, it is wholly owned by the Union
Government and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation. It is mandated with building affordable housing and carrying out urban
development.12

The Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956:

The said Act was enacted with the object to improve and clear the slum areas in particular Union
Territories and also to protect the tenants against eviction in such slum areas. To bring into force
the provisions of this Act, the Central Government is empowered under this Act. Similarly, a
separate date of commencement for a each Union Territory could be provided, like, for Union
Territory of Delhi, the Act brought into force on 8th February, 1957.13

12
‘BECOMING HOMELESS, SURVIVING HOMELESSNESS’ by Ashwin Parulkar
13
‘Rural homelessness in India’ in (2012) Susan J.Smith (ed) International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home.

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 8. CASE LAWS

A Supreme Court-appointed panel headed by a former Delhi high court judge has projected a
very grim picture for urban homeless people saying that over 90% of them have no roof over
their heads as state governments have failed miserably in setting up shelter homes despite the
Centre releasing more than Rs 2,000 crore since National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM)
was launched in 2013. The three-member committee headed by Justice (retd) Kailash Gambhir
submitted its report before the SC on the state of affairs of shelter homes in different states and
said that as governments were not using funds the homeless in urban centres were forced to live
on the roadside, railway platforms or under flyovers. It said only Delhi and Mizoram have done
fairly well in providing shelters to such people.

As per the report, Delhi provides shelter to the largest number of homeless people in the country
and in Mizoram the capacity of shelter homes outnumbers the homeless people in the state. UP,
Maharashtra, West Bengal and Gujarat are the worst performers. Lack of shelter leads to
unnatural deaths in during peak summer and winter months. The apex court has been monitoring
implementation of NULM and has repeatedly expressed concern over “an extremely
unsatisfactory state of affairs on the ground”. It appointed the committee to after the Centre
informed the court that around 50% of the Rs 2,185 crore released have not been utilised by
states. As per the 2011 census, of the 17.73 lakh homeless in the country, around 10 lakh are in
urban areas. As much as 65.3% of homeless live in five states –– UP, Maharastra, Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.14

 Bardu Ram Vs. Ram Chander, AIR, 1972 Del. 34 (FB)15

Hon’ble Judiciary many times explained the purposed of this Act in their observations in
the related matters. A full bench of Hon’ble High Court of Delhi. Court observed that the
very important object of this Act is to enable the poor, who do not have any place to go to
and if he will be evicted to remain in his dwellings until provision is made from a better
live for him elsewhere.

14
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
15
www.yourarticlelibrary.com

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  L.Rs and Ors. Vs Radha Kishan, AIR 1977 SC 78916

The Act was enacted for protecting tenants in slum areas from eviction, unless an
alternative accommodation is available to them. The extension of the provisions thereof
is provided to the concerned Union territories, however the Union Territories of the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands are
exempted.

 Callahan v. Carey17

When modern homelessness first emerged in the late 1970s, thousands of homeless New
Yorkers were forced to fend for themselves on the streets, and many died or suffered
terrible injuries. In 1979 a lawyer named Robert Hayes, who co-founded Coalition for the
Homeless, brought a class action lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court against the
City and State called Callahan v. Carey, arguing that a constitutional right to shelter
existed in New YorkOn February 21, 2012, Justice Gische ruled for the plaintiffs and the
City Council that the City had failed to comply with City Charter requirements regarding
the issuance of rules, and declared the proposed shelter eligibility rules “a nullity.” In
January 2013, oral argumanets were held in the New York State Supreme Court’s
Appellate Division (First Department) on the City’s appeal of the trial court order.

 Victoria (City) v. Adams18

Adams, a case about the rights of homeless people, is an important step towards the domestic
recognition of a right to adequate shelter, and towards absorbing international human rights
protections into canadian law. Adams also confirms that canadian courts and tribunals can,
through their interpretation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provide a
significant forum for adjudication and enforcement of canada’s obligations under
international human rights law in Adams, the court recognizes that creating shelter to protect
oneself from the harshness of the weather and the environment is critical to an individual’s
dignity and independence.

16
www.yourarticlelibrary.com
17
https://www.groundreport.com
18
ibid

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 9. CONCLUSION

Rural homelessness in India (as in many developed and developing countries) is a relatively
hidden and unknown phenomenon. The processes of counting, defining and categorising rural
homelessness have barely begun. Yet the scale of rural homelessness in India is vast. Hundreds
of thousands of people may become homeless following frequent natural disasters, and may
remain without permanent shelter for months or even years. At least 6 million people are without
any form of shelter, while a further 22 million live in institutions. At the time of writing (2009)
there was a shortfall of 28 million rural houses, needed to provide accommodation for 126
million people currently houseless or living in kutcha housing.
The causes of rural homelessness include poverty and landlessness, as well as wars,
conflicts and natural disasters. The scale of housing need is such that it has not been
satisfactorily met despite the efforts of the national government and international aid agencies.
The experiences of rural homelessness are as diverse as India’s population, and a few brief
examples and cases have given some sense of this wide spectrum, from villagers displaced by
dam construction in the north to rural slum-dwellers in the south. While rural homeless people in
India – like homeless people everywhere – commonly experience marginality and
disenfranchisement, many are creative in their survival strategies and some are engaged in social
activism to improve the rights of homeless people.
It is evident that the circumstances that lead individuals and households into
homelessness are increasingly prevalent world-wide and there is no easing in the task of re-
integrating homeless people into mainstream society. In high- income industrial countries, the
poverty and isolation of homeless people are at odds with the wealth and prosperity of society as
a whole. In developing countries, rapid urbanization, the urbanization of poverty, structural
adjustment programmes, some disintegration of traditional family links, poor life chances in rural
areas, and many other stresses, are compounding to introduce homelessness for the first time,
particularly among youngpeople.

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 10. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:
 ‘BECOMING HOMELESS, SURVIVING HOMELESSNESS’ by Ashwin Parulkar
 ‘Rural homelessness in India’ in (2012) Susan J.Smith (ed) International Encyclopedia of
Housing and Home.
 Homelessness in India During and Post Colonial Rule’ January 20, 2016 Gurinder
Narwal
 ‘Definitions of homelessness in developing countries’ Article in Habitat International ·
June 2005
e-Resources:
 www.yourarticlelibrary.com
 https://www.groundreport.com
 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
 https://history.libraries.wsu.edu
 https://www.indiatoday.in
 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
 https://indianhomeless.wordpress.com
 https://essayswriters.com

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