CHENNAI: Providing housing alone cannot improve the lives of urban homeless people unless livelihood opportunities are also secured in the same locality, speakers at a meeting in Chennai said on Wednesday. Representatives of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), unorganised workers’ unions and NGOs participated in the meeting.
The issue was highlighted at ‘Beyond Shelters’, a meeting organised by the Madras School of Social Work (MSSW) and the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) ahead of World Homeless Day.
Sathya, a resident of the Seven Wells tenements of Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB), said she was struggling to meet her family’s basic needs despite being provided a house six months ago. “I have a secure house now, but who will help with my livelihood?” she asked.
Sathya had lived for nearly two decades on TNPSC Road near Parry’s Corner, where her family ran a small tiffin shop. Her son studied on the roadside until Class 10. “When we were on the road, we ate twice a day. Somehow, we survived because someone would help us or give us food,” she said. “I could not afford sanitary napkins and struggled to provide even Rs 100/day to my college-going son.”
Another Seven Wells resident, Manju, raised concerns over the quality of newly allotted TNUHDB tenements. She alleged that structural defects had emerged within four months, lifts remained non-functional and elderly residents were forced to climb up to 9 floors. She also alleged that worms were found in drinking water tanks.
R Geetha, founder of the Unorganised Worker Union, highlighted the shortage of shelters at the Koyambedu vegetable market and bus terminus, where more than 1,000 construction workers and loadmen reportedly sleep every day. She urged the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority to use available space at the premises to construct a dedicated shelter, with funding potentially sourced through the Construction Workers Welfare Board.
Preetha Krishandas, co-CEO of Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health, said, “Homeless people with mental illness faced multiple forms of isolation. Old-age homes are often not equipped or willing to accommodate elderly people with mental health conditions. A dedicated government department is needed to address the needs of homeless people with mental illness,” she added, and proposed a centralised Resource Availability Centre to assist with documentation, welfare schemes and care.
IRCDUC and MSSW recommended that the civic bodies establish a city-wide integrated database covering homelessness, services accessed and post-exit outcomes. They also called for priority to be given to transit and recovery shelters providing medical, psychosocial, de-addiction and family-reunification support. Rehabilitation, rather than shelter occupancy alone, should be the focus, supported by individual care plans, post-exit follow-up and periodic studies, they said.
The organisations further sought stronger inter-departmental coordination under existing government orders, including GO 405, to ensure access to housing, healthcare, identity documents and employment. They also proposed a state-wide scheme covering all urban local bodies with dedicated funding, including targeted allocations under the TN Development Action Plan for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, 2024, for vulnerable SC communities.
GCC official Raj Kumar said, “Homeless people should be treated as rights-holders during rescue operations. The civic body operates 57 shelters across the city and tracks shelter-related data through an app. It has continued to fund essential services independently after support under the National Urban Livelihood Mission ended five years ago.”