Six NGOs running Delhi’s night shelters battling fund crisis for nearly a year now

New Delhi: The six NGOs working with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) have been battling a fund crisis for nearly a year now.

As the temperature dips in the Capital, the 197 night shelters are a safe haven for several homeless people across

the city but times are getting tougher for the NGOs and the unpaid staff.

Shelter 128 in East of Kailash has around 90 homeless people depending on the beds, blankets and sanitary facilities provided to escape the harsh winter.

One of the six NGOs — Safe Approach — has yet to receive funds for over 1.5 years. The executive director Santosh Kumar said that they have been seeking loans and financial aid from private individuals and pay the salaries of the staff. “But for how long can we go on like this? We cannot even quit as it is a social work and the people who come to the night shelter are extremely poor. We cannot turn them away,” he said while speaking to Millennium Post.

The other five NGOs —SPYM, Rachna Women’s Development Association, Prayas, Centre for Equity Studies and Sadik Masih Medical Social Servant Society have similar woes.

All of them had been granted a tender by the DUSIB, to oversee the shelters and offer

various services like providing caretakers, electricity, maintenance and sanitation.

A caretaker at the night shelter, Pawan, who has been working for five years said that his salary is around Rs 19,000 but he has not received it for the last six months. “When I asked my supervisor for it he said that the government has not paid them and we will receive it when the government gives them. Monthly expenses

like rent and transportation for work are getting tougher day by day,” he said.

The Arvind Kejriwal government had announced a winter action plan to rescue the homeless and provide them with meals and accommodation.

Meanwhile, poor sanitation is a problem at the night shelters among the 30-odd females; none have taken a shower in three months.

“There was one shower facility (cabin) that they had taken for repair three months ago and it has still not come. We have not taken a bath since. Men go here and there and clean up but for females like us, it is a big problem,” a 15-year-old Lakshmi said. Her family — parents, and a brother — collects metallic objects from the

drains or streets and sells them at the local kabadiwalas and mechanic shops.

When asked about when the payments will be cleared a senior official of DUSIB said, “Whenever the Delhi government will send us funds we will immediately process it.” Another senior official in DUSIB said they have sent the proposal to the finance department and are waiting for it to be cleared.