Remove extra info.

(cut down to 600 words in 2 pages)

Words in bold are important
Try to include newspaper clipping, table or stats relevant to MP in
general and Indore in particular
Last para should be what a citizen can do to from his end or how we can
make a difference
Introduction
With a population of well over 1.2 billion people, India is the second most populous nation in
the world. According to UN-HABITAT, India is home to 63% of all slum dwellers in South
Asia. This amounts to 170 million people, 17% of the worlds slum dwellers. Homelessness
in India has been a problem for centuries; causing the average family to have an average of
five generations being homeless. Census defines homeless households as those which do not
live in buildings or census houses but live in the open or roadside, on pavements, in hume-
pipes, under flyovers and staircases, or in places of worship, mandaps, railway platforms, etc.
With this definition at least 78 million people are homeless in India despite the country
growing in global economic stature. Total number of houses has increased from 52.06
million to 78.48 million (as per 2011 census) but still there is a shortage of about 18.78
million houses in the country.
Homeless population is among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged sectors
in the country. Despite, however, 60% of them, based on the Commissioners'
Eighth Report, are not covered by food schemes and or other forms of
assistance provided for below the poverty line (BPL) category of the population
due to non-ownership of a proof of residence.
Current Scenario
An increasing number of migrants looking for employment and better living standards are
quickly joining India's homeless population. The 2011 census shows that while there has
been a sharp reduction of homeless people in rural India, their numbers in towns and cities
have increased by almost 21% (69,000 households). It is estimated that one in every 100
people in India's cities is homeless.
Four states Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh account for
about half the countrys homeless population. Uttar Pradesh has nearly one-fifth of the
countrys homeless, and Maharashtra follows with 12%. Other states with significant
proportions of the homeless population are Rajasthan (10%), Madhya Pradesh, Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal (8%).
Indias two megacities Mumbai and Delhi are known for their large homeless
populations. The city with the largest homeless population is Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh
(80,877 people), followed by Kolkata (69,798), Mumbai (57,416), Delhi (46,724) and Surat
(36,144). Also Chandigarh and Delhi have a highest proportion of homeless in their
population with 0.39% and 0.28% respectively. Every year over 100,000 homeless people in
Delhi alone are exposed to intense cold weather. Even though Delhi shivers in the bone-
chilling winter, the city's homeless - said to range from 67,000 to 150,000 - prefer to sleep in
the streets under the open skies rather than use the 150 night shelters, citing lack of safety
and facilities. In 2002, 3,095 deaths were reported in New Delhi due to a cold wave,
according to media reports. Over 100 people die every year in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
due to cold wave.
The official homeless population includes 2.7 lakh children with child sex ratio is 932 (932
girl children for every 1000 boy children). The literacy rate of the homeless population is just
44.6%, as compared to 80.9% for the country as a whole. With fewer homeless people in
education, far higher proportions are in the workforce as compared to the general
population, among both men and women.
A growing concern
Some of the problems leading to homelessness include: disability (either
mentally, physically, or both), lack of affordable housing (considering that a
basic apartment in India costs approximately $177 USD per
month), unemployment (either seasonal or through economic hardships), and
changes in industry.
A significant number of the estimated 80 to 200 million of the population
sleeping hungry every night comprise homeless people. The condition makes
them susceptible to extreme weather conditions which, sometimes amounts to
death. Several numbers of them, in fact, have died in the streets in winter but in
no avail could be associated to starvation.
Homeless children under the age of 18 are subject to child abuse, forced
labor (often involving picking up rags and sifting through garbage for recyclable
materials), illness, and drug addiction while being stripped of their right
to education and recreation. According to UNICEF, violence against children in
India include neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and exploitation as the
rate of child abuse increased to nearly 8000 child abuses in 2007. Indian
government study in 2007 stated that two out of every three children in India
were physically abused and that 50% of the nearly 12,000 studied children
testified one or more forms of sexual abuse.
Many street children run away from their families after they were being abused physically
and mentally. When they run away from their families, hoping that they will have a better
life, these children face more abuses than before including child labor and prostitution. A
common problem that these street children as young as 6 years face, is physical labor in
which they sift through garbage seeking money to buy their food. These children do 20% of
India's GDP work, garbage picking, luggage carrying and selling news papers and flowers.
Homelessness in Madhya Pradesh
As per the 2011 Census, 28% of Madhya Pradeshs urban population lives in
slum areas. Slum area has been identified in 303 towns out of the total 304
statutory towns, in which 28.34 % of urban population is residing.
Among the major cities in Madhya Pradesh, Indore Municipal Corporation
deals with maximum slum population, followed by that of Jabalpur. A total of
5,90,257 slum dwellers were found residing in Indore Municipal Corporation
limits and 4,83,626 slum dwellers were in Jabalpur.
As per the correspondence and affidavit submitted by the State Government of
Madhya Pradesh, 24 major towns are covered for setting up raen-basera
(Shelter Homes) for the homeless. Temporary shelters somehow were made
functional without any planned & systematic intervention in terms of
infrastructure and basic facilities in the shelters. But the major issue remained
unaddressed was of the accessibility and decent environment around these
shelters was not found to be welcoming.
About 24% of the shelters do not have adequate bedding facilities. Water
coolers and earthen pots are available in all the shelters except a few in Ujjain
and Bhopal. Almost 70% of the shelters do not have food facilities/kitchen
facilities inside the shelters. In Bhopal, food is being provided under the
RamRoti Yojana in the permanent shelters only. 12 out of 69 shelters do not
have functional toilets inside the shelters. Shelters in Bhopal near Nadira bus
stand and new market are attached to Sulabh complexes and have to pay Rs. 10
for using the facilities. There are only few districts like Guna, Neemuch, Satna and
Singrauli where food is being provided by the Nagar Nigam but average occupancy in these
shelters is extremely low and in 43% shelters only less than 5 homeless people were found to
be staying.
As against a need of 30% of shelters needed for specially vulnerable
category, none of the homeless shelters in Madhya Pradesh has arrangements
for old, aged and infirm. There have been provisions made for men and
women in the same shelter. There are some homeless families in Bhopal who
also prefer staying in the streets because there are no arrangements for
homeless families.