By Aloysius Xavier Lopez
Copyright thehindu
Chennai Corporation is planning to conduct another round of survey to identify homeless persons who were inadvertently left out of the list in the previous exercise, in order to assist them find shelter ahead of the onset of the Northeast monsoon.
At a recent meeting in Ripon Buildings, the civic body decided that the volunteers will visit neighbourhoods with homeless persons and identify the individuals who have been left out of the list. The civic body has already identified more than 13,000 homeless persons in various parts of the city. However, many homeless persons are yet to get Aadhaar, voter identity cards and ration cards to get benefits of welfare schemes of various government departments. “Many homeless residents have demanded houses,” said an official.
R. Manikandan, who had been a homeless resident of Royapettah, has demanded a house in the neighbourhood of Royapettah for education of his children. He said his family with three children stayed in a rented building a few months ago after the children became sick but had been forced to vacate owing to rent arrears. “Two of my three children are going to school in Royapettah. They miss school during rains as their books are drenched. So, I tried getting rental accommodation, but failed,” he said.
Chennai Corporation City Health Officer Jagadeesan said the civic body will assist the homeless residents get Aadhaar and other identity cards before other government departments help them get the benefits of welfare measures including housing.
Vanessa Peter, Founder, IRCDUC, said, “An assessment by IRCDUC in September 2024 revealed that 945 elderly persons and 1430 children are residing in the streets. The assessment also revealed that 691 women, 94 girls, 123 boys, 282 elderly women and 522 elderly men, 14 transpersons, 20 persons with psychosocial disabilities are found to be sleeping on the platforms without any cover, compromising their safety. The recent survey taken up by the Madras School of Social Work in 2025 also reveals that there are 13,529 persons in who are homeless in Chennai.
“We have seen elderly persons, pregnant women, children, and persons with mental illness in extremely vulnerable situations without any proper shelter. Their situations become worse during extreme heat and rain. Children miss school even during light rains as their school uniforms and books are drenched and there is no space to dry them,” she said.
“To further strengthen the intervention for persons in homeless situations, there is a need for setting up a platform for convergence of schemes and coordination between different departments to ensure access to entitlements,” she said.
