BENGALURU: The Impact India Consortium network of NGOs, which works for the rights of the urban poor and homeless, held ‘World Big Sleep Out’ at Town Hall on Saturday.
Participants slept at the entrance of Town Hall for a few hours with an aim to give an insight into the struggles of the homeless. They were joining a campaign held across 40 cities in the world, demanding shelters for the homeless. Former Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde inaugurated the event and signed a memorandum demanding 100 homeless shelters in the city.
“Living in the open, exposed to extreme weather conditions affects homeless people’s health. They suffer from poverty, lack of access to water, sanitation, thefts, violence, abuse of women and children, and lack political and civil rights,” said a release.
The activists demanded support from the state government and the BBMP particularly, who have been tasked with building homeless shelters in the city as per a Supreme Court order in 2010.
MP P C Mohan and MLC Ravi Kumar supported implementing the same through officials. Participants included the Azim Premji Philanthropic initiatives, WNS Global Service, NGOs, activists, BBMP officials, students from Bangalore University, Kiccha Sudeep Abhimanigala Sangha and others.