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Homelessness is a global challenge.

The United Nations Human Settlements Program estimates that 1.1 billion people live in inadequate housing, and the best data available suggest that more than 100 million people have no housing at all.

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Development Policies for Eradication of Street Begging in Bangladesh
Mohammad Manjur Alam and Arif Billah
The purpose of this paper is to examine the situation of social exclusion of street beggar; this paper also examines the development policies for beggar in Bangladesh and to understand how the existing policies can protect street beggars’ right and how they could enjoy country’s currently available facilities. It explored the linkage between beggars’ right in Bangladesh and inclusion of street beggar in development policies...
Health Crises, Social Support, and Caregiving Practices among Street Children in Bangladesh
Julia Henly and Hasan Reza
An estimated 1–3 million children live on the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh relying on each other for survival in an environment characterized by illness, violence, and poverty. To understand street children's caregiving practices, this paper draws in part from the informal caregiving and social support literature. The qualitative project purposively selected 75 street children and asked three primary questions: 1) What is the...
Preventing ‐substance abuse among street children in India: A literature review
Suresh Joshi and Narayan Sharma
The present study revealed that 10 % of the world’s children live on the streets in India and more than two third were boys. It was found that most of the street children abuse nicotine and alcohol. The major reason for the children to be on the streets was poverty and peer pressure, for substances abuse. Substance abuses damage the vital organs and respiratory, digestive, oral, facial and heart diseases were the common...
Public Hearing on Violence against Homeless Women in Delhi
Homeless women in Delhi face acts of violence on a daily basis, including verbal, physical and sexual abuse, and economic and social exploitation, which severely affects their mental and physical health. The media, however, seldom report such atrocities and public authorities generally ignore their complaints. The affected women have no recourse to legal remedy, aid or redress, and their plight seems to be unheard. In order...
Housing and Land Rights Network: India Homelessness Resources
Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), based in New Delhi, India, works for the recognition, defence, promotion, and realization of the human rights to adequate housing and land, which involve gaining a safe and secure place for all individuals and communities, especially marginalized communities, to live in peace and dignity. HLRN is an independent organization and works on research, education, and advocacy related to...
Factors and Medical Issues Associated with Homeless Urban Malaysians: A Qualitative Study
Nurul Mahfuzah Ahmad Yani
Nur Zakirah Zahari
Nur Fatini Haziqah Abu Samah
Muhammad Ammar Faidhi Mohamed Azahar
Siti Munira Yasin
Mohd Shahril Ahmad Saman
Nor Aini
Mohd Noor
Homeless people are often connected with a variety of health problems due to their improper hygiene and personal care. According to Lebrun ‐ Harris et al., individuals who are homeless are recognised to have worse physical and emotional health statuses compared to the general population, even when communities from more deprived neighbourhoods are taken into consideration. Medical conditions that usually occur among homeless...
A better life, a healthier mind
Vandana Gopikumar
In recent years, the impact of mental illness on the social and economic health of nations has been well understood, placing mental ill health as one of the leading causes of disability adjusted life years (DALY) worldwide. There has been much focus on early intervention, integration of mental health into primary care, stigma reduction and access to affordable health care, all very relevant and essential policy...
Inclusive ecosystems for mental health
Keshav Desiraju
Vandana Gopikumar
Lily, a petite, pleasant young woman, enjoys life by the sea, in a village close to Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu. On closer observation, Lily may seem somewhat different from others around her; there is a visible social awkwardness. Her clinical diagnosis of intellectual disability and psychosis typically indicates an inhibited capacity to engage in usual tasks, socialise as others may and sustain meaningful relationships and...
Rajasthan Government Draft Policy on Urban Homelessness - June 2015
Government of Rajasthan - Local Self Government Department
This a state policy that outlines the duties of those in the homelessness service sector in regards to providing accommodation for people experiencing street homelessness in Rajasthan, India. It includes responsibilities such as collecting data and approving people of being granted accommodation. The policy also defines homelessness.
Shelter for Homeless: Just a handful under the roof
Shalini Nair
While the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) has been expanded to include even the middle classes, little is being done to resolve the issue of homelessness. According to the latest official data, merely 658 shelters have been created since the launch of the Shelter for Homeless programme under the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) in 2013. Of these a majority —342—are existing shelters that were refurbished under the...
Why Delhi’s homeless prefer to sleep in the freezing cold than in government shelters
Harsh Mander
Winter is upon us once more. Pollution, smog and plunging temperatures transmute sleeping into a formidable daily challenge for the most dispossessed of city residents – people without homes. The more compassionate among us are stirred briefly each year about the predicament of the homeless forced to sleep in the biting cold. The Delhi government has undertaken a range of steps to aid the homeless in winter months after it...
You Can Be Arrested for ‘Looking Poor’ in Most Indian States
Nyaaya
In most places, people can be arrested for “looking poor”, as our analysis of laws in 18 states and union territories (UTs) shows. Laws allow the police to round up beggars without warrant and judges to confine them in government-run institutions for long or indefinite periods–a violation of constitutional principles. The language of the law essentially allows the law enforcement agencies and the courts to internalise and...
Existing State Anti Beggary Laws in India
Government of India - Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
The Central Government has requested State Governments and UT Administrations to effectively implements their existing laws or enact a new law in case such law is not in existence. As per available information, 20 States and 2 Union Territories have anti-beggary laws as shown in the table below.  Shelter homes/ institutions for beggars are functioning in Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, ...
From 2001 to 2011, Families Without Homes Increased 37% in Cities, Fell 26% in Villages
Zeeshan Shaikh
Between the two Censuses of 2001 and 2011, the numbers of these houseless households remained virtually unchanged in India — growing a mere 0.5% from 4.47 lakh to 4.49 lakh. Urban India, however, showed a 36.78% growth — from 1.87 lakh to 2.56 lakh households — during this same period, while rural India showed a negative growth of 25.73% (falling from 2.59 lakh to 1.92 lakh households).
Incidence and Intensity of Abuse in Street Children in India
Meena Mathur
Prachi Rathore
Monika Mathur
The aims of this cross-sectional survey were to examine the prevalence, type and intensity of abuse in street children in Jaipur city, India. Method: Based on purposive random sampling, 200 street children, inclusive of equal number of boys and girls, were selected from the streets of Jaipur city, India, and administered an in-depth interview schedule which included five areas of abuse, namely, "general abuse," "health abuse...
Invisible City-Makers: An Action Research on Homelessness in Bangalore City 2010
Rajani S.S.
Sathyasree Goswami
This document attempts to capture the situation of the homeless people in Bangalore city and project it from the perspective of their entitlements. This primarily draws from the survey that was carried out for 1999 persons through a questionnaire followed by case studies collection and focussed group discussions. During this study there was also an attempt made to carry out a headcount of the people sleeping on the street,...
Off The Mean Streets
Ashwin Parulkar
When The Rangarajan Committee submitted its report on the national poverty rate to the new minister of state for planning at the end of June, it suggested raising the urban poverty line to a daily consumption rate of Rs 47 per person. If accepted by the new government, this revision will nearly double the official number of poor people living in India’s cities to a staggering 103 million—roughly equivalent to the entire...
Death and Hunger on the Streets of Delhi
Harsh Mander
Smita Jacob
Urban homeless people constitute the most marginalized and invisiblised category even within the urban poor. Estimates of their numbers globally range from anywhere between 100 million and one billion of the global population. This very broad range of estimates is the consequence of the existence of many variant definitions of what constitutes a ‘homeless’ person – a person with no shelter whatsoever; one with shelter that is...
Urban Rights Forum with the Homeless: The Trajectory of a Struggle
Shahri Adhikar Manch: Begharon Ke Saath
The purpose of this document is to analyse the work and experience of Shahri Adhikar Manch: Begharon Ke Saath (SAM:BKS) towards creating an understanding of the work on homelessness in Delhi. SAM:BKS has been effective in carving out short-term and long-term responses to the challenge of homelessness. While there have been significant interventions, many challenges remain. This document is an attempt to collate the lessons...
Homelessness in Ahmedabad
Amber Morley
This report has aimed to illustrate the complex and diverse personal narratives within the experience of homelessness. Using oral histories of over fifty homelessness individuals living in Ahmedabad a picture can start to be constructed of life on the streets. Different themes have been explored including food, employment, conflicts with authority and the negotiation of gender norms. Although this report aims to provide an...