VISAKHAPATNAM: While the country was under the COVID-19-imposed lockdown, shelter homes in Vizag district opened their doors to homeless persons, migrant workers, students and those in transit en route to their destinations. With no government help forthcoming, the shelter home supervisors are exhausting their savings in feeding the inmates.
Vasu Pragada, a supervisor, said, “We give shelter to anyone and they can stay for as long as they want to; we take care of all the requirements. Running the shelter home has become difficult since the state government does not support us financially, even though it claims it does. However, we are providing food to the shelter inmates with the help of volunteers. We are spending out of our savings now.”
None of the medical and health officials have visited the shelter homes and checked on the health condition of the inmates and staff, he complained.
It may be recalled that following the rush of migrant workers from across the country during the lockdown, the government opened these homes to provide them shelter.
“We sheltered several people during the lockdown. Apart from migrants and the homeless, students also stayed here during their exams or internships since the hostels were closed for fear of the spread of COVID-19. We somehow managed with bunker beds,” he said.
"When migrants turned up in hundreds during the lockdown, maintaining social distancing became somewhat of a luxury. The threat that if one of the migrants contracted the infection, tens of people, including the shelter home staff, would be infected always dangled like a sword of Damocles. We were so afraid then,” he said.
Not much has changed. The pandemic is still there and we are grappling with it every day, Asha Latha, a helper at one of the shelters in Vizag, observed.
Vasu suggested that the government adopt the shelter homes system in New Delhi and Kerala where spacious homes were constructed for the homeless where the inmates can stay by paying Rs 5 to Rs 10 per day. This will not only make the homeless more responsible, but also we can provide them with better facilities and neat and clean rooms, he added.
Meanwhile, the staff at the shelter homes claim that they did not receive their salaries from the government for over three months for now.