Government Provides Funds to the States/UTs Particularly Tamil Nadu Under the Scheme “Shelter of Urban Homeless”

(a)&(b)  It is the primary responsibility of Governments of the States/ Union Territories to provide shelter for the urban homeless. However, in order to complement the efforts of States/UTs,Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs is administering a scheme ‘Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH)’ under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), through respective States/UTs.It focuses on providing permanent shelters equipped with basic facilities to the urban homeless.

Under DAY-NULM funds are allocated to States/UTs including Tamil Nadu in a consolidated manner, out of which appropriate amount is apportioned by States/UTs for Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH), as per their requirements. During FY 2016-17 to 2019-20, a total of Rs. 1450.56 crore was released to States/UTs. The Year-wise and State-wise information is at Annexure-I.

The State level Project Sanctioning Committee (PSC) is competent to consider and approve proposals for construction, refurbishment and sanction appropriate operations & management (O&M) cost for shelters.

As reported by States/UTs, during the period, 992 shelters have been sanctioned, out of which, 862 shelters are operational. Remaining are in various stages of construction/refurbishment. The Year-wise and State-wise information of shelters sanctioned and operational is at Annexure-II.

(c)  It is the responsibility of concerned States/UTs to map the concentration areas of urban homeless. The guidelines of SUH provide for conducting a systematic third party survey by urban local bodies so as to assess accurately the need for shelters at suitable locations.

(d)  The Operational Guidelines for SUH provide that for every one lakh urban population, under the scheme, provision should be made for permanent shelters for a minimum of one hundred persons. Depending upon local conditions, each shelter should preferably cater to 50 or more persons. In exceptional situations, shelters with lesser capacity could also be approved.

(e)  Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has taken various other initiatives for providing shelters to the urban homeless which include;

• Extending the implementation of SUH to all district headquarter towns and other towns with population of one lakh or more,

• Allowing States/UTs to take buildings on rent for running shelters, as an interim arrangement,

• Uploading details of shelters across the country on DAY-NULM portal,

• Directing the States/UTs to maintain funds for SUH component in a separate head of account and install CCTV camera in shelters to address security issues,

• Geo-tagging of shelters,

• Linking the shelters with colleges/educational institutions, so that the student volunteers can engage with the residents of the shelters to give them a sense of belonging, and

• Making shelters barrier free for  the  physically challenged shelter residents.