KMC plans surprise visits to check violation of rules

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to pay surprise visits to the urban shelters for the homeless that are being run by the NGOs to check if rules are being followed.

The civic body is learnt to have blacklisted an NGO for violation of rules. In such shelters the poor and the homeless, especially pavement dwellers, are provided accommodation free-of-cost. However, it came to the attention of the civic body that money was being taken from the persons in the shelter.

KMC has set up about 12 such urban shelters for the homeless with more than 600 inhabitants. About nine of these shelters are run by NGOs and maintained by the State Urban Development Agency (SUDA). The rest three are maintained by the Women and Child Development and Social Welfare department.

It was learnt that KMC has now decided to pay surprise visits to the shelters run by the NGOs to ensure the inhabitants are taken care of and rules are being followed. An official said that reports have come to KMC regarding violation of rules by some of these non-profit organisations. “No money can be charged from the inhabitants of these shelters. The civic body can blacklist NGOs that are found violating the rules.”

Earlier this year, Mayor Firhad Hakim had asked the police to help KMC shift the pavement dwellers and rag pickers to these urban shelters. He had said: “We have already built several urban shelters to accommodate such pavement dwellers. In these shelters, all sorts of arrangements have been made including food and sanitary. We earlier gave a list of these urban shelters in the city to the police. We will send

them again.”