HOMELESSNESS ABOUT BUTTERFLIES Children in News Homelessness
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HOMELESSNESS ABOUT BUTTERFLIES Children in News Homelessness VOL. XXIV, 2015 HIS NAME IS TODAY Years V 1989 -2014 OL. XXIV , 2015 U-4, Green Park Extension, New Delhi-110016 CHILDREN IN NEWS VOL XXIV, 2015 1 Tel.: 26163935, 26191063 E-mail: [email protected] Delhi Child Rights Club The Delhi Child Rights Club (DCRC) was launched by BUTTERFLIES in 1998. There was a need to have a children's forum in Delhi where children could articulate their issues and collectively take action to get their entitlements which is rightfully theirs. BUTTERFLIES invited children of NGOs working with children based in Delhi to be part of this forum. The response to this invitation was encouraging. Today there are children from 15 NGOs who are members In the little world in which and in recent times children from various neighbourhoods have attended DCRC meetings. The primary objective of DCRC is to have children's voices heard by civil society and policy makers, their views on issues children have their existence pertaining to their lives be taken seriously, and to consult them on all issues related to their welfare, development and protection. DCRC is open to all children of Delhi under 18 years of age whether from working whosoever brings them up,there is class, middle class or upper class background or a child living in an institution. A city-wide Child Rights Club is one mechanism where by children can work together towards the creation of a child safe and nothing so finely perceived and so friendly city. The children envisage a city where children's rights to respect, dignity, opportunities, growth, development and protection are ensured. DCRC enables ongoing opportunities for all children in Delhi to finely felt as injustice meet together to find ways to increase awareness and action about their rights. Moreover, DCRC seeks recognition as forum of children who should be consulted whenever city policies or decisions are being made that affect them. Child representatives from a number of NGOs currently meet together Charles Dickens for regular monthly sometimes bi-monthly meetings. Through discussions, research, their own newspaper “Delhi Children's Times” and street theater they have continued to share their experiences, plan and undertake actions which promote their rights. DCRC members have given their suggestion on various government policies and very recently on National Policy for Children. "We discuss all problems that children face and the points that come up are shared with officers of the government and also with municipal councillors”. The Delhi Child Rights Club welcomes all children to join them. If you are interested in knowing more about DCRC please contact : Delhi Child Rights Club C/O Butterflies, U-4, Green Park Ext., New Delhi-110016 2 BUTTERFLIES Tel : 011-26163935, 26191063 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Children in News Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad A Selection of Articles and News Clippings on Children Sociologist Former Faculty of JNU, Dept. of Sociology, Delhi Vol. XXIV, 2015 This isssue is supported by Misereor, Germany Dr. Nasreen Fazalbhoy Mumbai University, Former Faculty, Dept. of Sociology Mr. Colin Gonsalves CONTENTS Director, HRLN Justice R.S. Narula Former Chief Justice Editorial 4 Punjab and Haryana High Court About the issue 6 Dr. Vasanthi Raman Sociologist and Activist Special Feature : Homelessness 7 Ms. Vidya Ben Shah Theme Articles 8 Former Chairperson, Central Social Welfare Board Statistics on Homelessness Population 41 Editor-in-Chief Newspapers & Magazines Covered 42 Ms. Rita Panicker Director, Butterfiles Children and Society 43 Editorial Collective & Documentation Shinu, Diptimayee Sahoo, Rajeesh Child Abuse and Neglect 50 Assistance: Children and Law 56 Ritu, Nirmala, Dilip Children and Economy 63 Compiled & Published by: Advocacy and Research Centre Children in Conflict with Law 69 Butterflies Protecting & Empowering Children Since 1989 Education 76 U-4, Second Floor, Green Park Extn., New Delhi - 110016 Girl Child 90 Tel.: 26163935, 26191063 Fax: 26196117 E-mail: [email protected] Children and Media 102 Suggested Contribution-Per Copy Health 106 Rs. 100/- (INDIA) US $10 or equivalent (SAARC Countries) Demography 113 US $35 (Developed Countries) US $20 (Other Developing Countries) Differently Abled Children 120 Design Concept: Himalini Verma Design Assistance: Sujay Joseph Children of the Disadvantaged Group 126 Cover Photo: Kishan, Okhla Mandi CDC Child Labour 130 Disclaimer: The views expressed by the authors are their own and not that of the Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances 140 Editorial Board. Street Children 147 Designing and Printing: R K Advertising Welfare Programmes and Policies 152 +91-7503000790, 9313741097 [email protected] Index 159 CHILDREN IN NEWS VOL XXIV, 2015 3 Editorial Dear Readers, According to the Census of 2011, in India, total homeless persons are 1.77million. 9, 38,348 homeless persons are living in urban areas of the country including 46,724 in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It is estimated that one in every 100 people in India’s cities is homeless. There are an array of factors that contribute to homelessness. No one wants to be homeless by choice. It is a situation where people are forced into. Major factors of homelessness are loss of work, depressed wages, forced migration from rural areas due to distress conditions, lack of affordable housing, slum demolitions and evictions without rehabilitation, domestic violence, breakdown of family and partnership/marriage, inadequate planning and land use and inadequacy of the law. Women and children without housing and living on the streets suffer the most severe kinds of abuse and violence. It is tragic and unacceptable in a society that a large chunk of our population are homeless. Our social policies require strategic planning and a sound investment plan to cater the needs of homeless people. It is also important to note that the Government of India has adopted number of policies for providing Affordable Housing for all. In the beginning of the planning period, social housing schemes were devised for economically weaker section, low income group and middle income group. Later programs however have been directed towards the poor only. These included Integrated Subsidized Housing Scheme for Industrial workers and economically weaker sections (1952); Low Income Group Housing Scheme (1956); Slum Improvement/Clearance Scheme (initiated in 1956 and discontinued in 1972 at national level). Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (1972); National Slum Development Program (1996), Scheme for Housing and Shelter Upgradation (SHASHU as part of Nehru Rozgar Yojna, introduced in 1989 and discontinued in 1997); the Shelter Upgradation Scheme under PMIUPEP (Prime Minister’s Urban Poverty and Employment Program had even a shorter life span 1996-97); Night shelter (1988-89). Two Million Housing Programs, VAMBAY (Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojna (launched in 2001-02), RAY, JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) and Sardar Patel National Urban Housing Mission (Housing for All by 2022). According to census there is a shortage of 2 crore houses and it is hoped that by 2022 every citizen in this country will live in a house. Marking a major initiative for urban development in the country, Government of India has recently launched the Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All. The main objective of the three ambitious schemes is to develop Indian cities and towns as new engines of growth. The three big ticket projects – Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and the Housing for All, now named as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), are worth Rs. four hundred crores. While AMRUT seeks to ensure basic infrastructure and sanitation, PMAY enables the urban poor to own decent and affordable houses. Launching these three schemes, the Government of India said under Smart Cities Mission, quality of life will be enhanced in 100 identified cities and towns by ensuring quality infrastructure, improving services through application of smart solutions and enabling a clean and sustainable environment. Smart cities are considered as engine of growth and also center for foreign investment. However, the fear is that it may displace more people than they will actually employ.The big challenge of the project is to create self-sustaining cities, which create jobs, use resources wisely and also train people. 4 BUTTERFLIES Apart from the above centrally sponsored programs, state governments have their own state-level programs. All policies and schemes must strengthen in a transparent manner to gain results. It is also a matter of concern that with more than 90 percentof work force in the informal sector, majority of them being migrant labourers it is imperative that labour laws should address issues of minimum wages based on the cost of living, housing for the workers, schooling and health care facilities. In the case of housing we could look at affordable rental housing for migrant workers, so that they need not sleep in the open, at construction sites or in night shelters. Night shelters should be a very temporary arrangement and not a long term solution to homelessness. Our experiences of working with the shelter less adults we have found a significant number of them are daily wage earners. Their wages are so depressed that they cannot afford a room in a slum. Therefore the necessity to look at long term solutions of having affordable rental housing estates in a city. It is a tragedy that the capital city of our Country has third generation families living on the streets. This issue of Children in News is focused on the theme of ‘Homelessness’. It is an attempt to highlight the causes and characteristics of homelessness. Editor-in-Chief Rita Panicker CHILDREN IN NEWS VOL XXIV, 2015 5 The theme for this issue is Homelessness 6 BUTTERFLIES SPECIAL FEATURE HOMELESSNESS CHILDREN IN NEWS VOL XXIV, 2015 7 68 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE & STILL INDIA IS HOME OF HOMELESS PEOPLE Accommodation Times News Services Nikita Parekh On 15th August 2014, India celebrated its Territory of Delhi.