Shelters for Urban Homeless: 55 shelters built, about 44 more approved

Kolkata: State Urban Development Agency (SUDA) has made significant progress in setting up Shelters for Urban Homeless (SUH) under the State Urban Livelihood Mission project having already constructed 55 such SUHs across the state.

As many as 44 more shelter homes have already received approval for construction.

“We have set a target of setting up 109 SUHs across the state by the end of 2023 among which 70 will be in Kolkata,” a senior official of state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs (UD& MA) department said.

As per the terms and conditions of the project, 50 square feet of space is allocated for each person in a SUH for which funds are provided by the UD & MA department. SUDA under the UD & MA department executes the project with technical assistance from the Municipal Engineering Directorate.

The SUHs are meant for the poor people without shelter who live in railway stations, bus stands, footpaths or in temple complexes etc.

The SUHs are either managed by self-help groups or the urban local bodies have constituted committees who look after the daily affairs of the same.

The expenditure for each SUHs is approximately Rs 1.5 crore. Each of the SUH located outside Kolata has 50 beds.

The SUHs are equipped with clean beds, mosquito nets, bathrooms, lights, fans, bathroom and drinking water There are also facilities of television and books for passing leisure.

The beneficiaries are selected by night survey conducted by a team formed at the urban local bodies’ level. The doctors from the respective urban local bodies’ jurisdictional area conduct necessary health check-ups. If necessary, they refer to nearby health units or hospitals for diagnostics or other essential treatment.

“We are making arrangements for vocational training of the inhabitants of these SUHs so that they are able to earn a livelihood and return to the mainstream of the society,” the official said.

The elected representatives of the municipalities/ municipal corporations as well as people in different localities in and around these SUHs’ have given them garments to wear.

The urban local bodies hosts’ different cultural programmes on days like Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, Bhaiphonta etc in three SUHs.

Bank accounts have been opened for the inhabitants of these SUHs so that they get the benefits of different government schemes.