NEW DELHI: Centre for Holistic Development, an NGO dealing with the homeless, has written a letter to the government regarding proper checkups and sanitisation of shelters, especially after April 12, when a person named Ajay, found near Ritz Cinema Hall, Kashmiri Gate, died two days later after being admitted due to the infection.
“It has been a month since the lockdown, the Delhi government it yet come up with a concrete mechanism to tackle the plight of the homeless. The poor are still queuing up for food at crowded distribution centres. The ground reality is upsetting,” said Sunil Aledia, executive director of the Centre for Holistic Development.
According to the NGO, the person mentioned above might have visited the shelter home near Yamuna Pusta, Geeta Ghat, Nigam Bodh Ghat, or might have queued up for food along with a thousand others.
“The government should treat this matter with utmost urgency. You are kindly requested to investigate the above subject and conduct thorough health check-ups for the people living in shelter homes,” the letter said.The NGO also pointed out the government’s awareness campaign, aimed at the poor.
“Mass awareness campaigns by the government targeted for people living on the streets must be urgently re-evaluated. The homeless and destitute have very less or no awareness about COVID-19 precautionary measures. Government has been using mostly virtual mediums to spread information. Most of the homeless community are illiterate and don’t use mobile phones, radio etc. This limits their access to information about the pandemic. The government should ensure community-based direct information campaigns to bridge the information gap,” Aledia, suggested further in the letter addressed to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.