Corporation issues Aadhaar for 126 homeless people at night shelters

A Corporation official said the Aadhaar camps are being conducted on Saturdays and the civic body had already conducted two such camps. “So far, 126 homeless people have been enlisted in Aadhaar enrolment at the past camps and two more camps are in the pipeline,” the official added.

He added that among the 2,000 people in the night shelters, the civic body has identified 230 who do not have Aadhaar cards. “We will enlist the remaining people in the next few weeks,” the official said. The Corporation has been organising Aadhaar enrolment for the residents in the night shelters whenever it rescues homeless people from the roads.

“As they do not have a permanent address, the cards are being issued using the address of night shelters and even though they cannot stay here for a longer period, they can continue to use the card. We let them out after providing them training necessary to find jobs,” the official explained.

There are 50 shelters for the homeless in the city and are run by NGOs under the purview of the civic body. Of the 50 shelters, 13 are at major government, hospitals to provide shelter for the relatives of the patients.

Meanwhile, the Chennai Corporation had already identified more than 9,000 homeless people in the city and is trying to put up more night shelters.