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Cong. accused of not providing temporary night shelters

Staff Reporter

`MCD has not distributed any blankets to the poor and jerseys to junior school students

BRAVING COLD: Homeless labourers warm themselves up around a bonfire at West Patel Nagar in New Delhi on Tuesday . PHOTO: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

NEW DELHI: At a time when lakhs of rupees are being spent by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on foreign tours of the Mayor and the Chairman of the MCD Standing Committee, the Leader of the Opposition in the Corporation, Subhash Arya, has accused the Congress-ruled MCD of not distributing blankets to the poor, jerseys to the students and setting up temporary night shelters for the lakhs who spend their nights in the biting cold outside.

Observing that about a lakh of people sleep out in the open without blankets in this severe cold, Mr. Arya said this situation prevailed because there were not enough night shelters for the poor in Delhi. "Not only has the Congress failed to provide jerseys to the poor students, it has also failed to provide night accommodation to even 5,000 people," he said, adding that this was the state of affairs when lakhs of rupees were being spent on foreign tours of the Mayor and the Chairman of the Standing Committee.

At present there are 12 permanent night shelters which can accommodate about 2,000 people. But it is in the "temporary arrangements'' that the MCD has been found wanting.

Stating that temporary arrangements are to be made for night accommodation in nine community centres where 645 people would be accommodated, five temporary night shelters are to be set up with the cooperation of the Delhi Government and a non-government organisation for providing shelter to another 510 people, and 15 sites are selected for erecting tents to accommodate 1,500 persons, Mr. Arya said while half of December had nearly passed, these night shelters had still not come up.

Stating that the MCD had not distributed any blankets to the poor thus far, he said likewise the Corporation had failed to provide jerseys to about four lakh junior school students.

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