City night shelter homes flout SC guidelines

Anupam Bhagria

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 23

Three night shelters of the Municipal Corporation are not in compliance with the Supreme Court instructions. This was stated by Manmohan Singh, Engineer-in-Chief, Local Bodies Government, Punjab, who inspected the night shelter here today.

Talking to The Tribune, Manmohan Singh said: “As per the instructions of the Supreme Court, there should be beds and beddings for people staying in these shelter homes. During a visit to the shelter homes, I observed that there were no beds. Even the beddings were not appropriate, keeping in view the extreme cold conditions prevailing in the region. There were only a few bandages in the first aid box.”

He said as per the instructions of the Supreme Court, there should be one shelter home for every one lakh people. But there are only three shelter homes in the city as against the requirement of 16 homes. Manmohan Singh said: “I have instructed the MC officers to construct 13 more shelter homes in the city.”

During the inspection, the Engineer-in-Chief was told that each room at these shelter homes is considered one shelter home. He said it was wrong to call each room as one shelter home. So, he asked the officials concerned to construct 13 more shelter homes as per the instructions of the Supreme Court across the city, especially at places near the railway station, bus stand, etc.