Chennai police say hundreds of homeless persons aided under rehabilitation project

The Greater Chennai police has launched an initiative called ‘Kaaval Karangal’ in collaboration with the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Departments of Social Welfare and Health, along with 65 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the city. The initiative commenced in March 2021, and the Greater Chennai police issued a press release in June 2022 stating that nearly two thousand homeless persons were rescued, out of whom nearly a thousand were placed in homeless shelters and almost one hundred were reunited with their families. Apart from that, nearly five hundred unclaimed bodies were buried after performing their last rites with the help of volunteers. 

The initiative provides various services including medical assistance, assistance in finding shelters for homeless persons, guidance and counselling, and reuniting rescued persons with their families. The police department has formed a special squad who work with social workers to facilitate this initiative. The police officers who are a part of this squad identify various homeless persons, people with intellectual disabilities, and abandoned senior citizens and provide them with housing, medical assistance and even counselling to ensure their rehabilitation. This is done with the help of NGOs, homeless shelters and ambulance services. The squad functions 24 hours and has a helpline number along with an exclusive ambulance vehicle for the rescue operations. 

Rescue operations are facilitated once the ‘Kaval Karangal’ team receives information about a person needing help. The team then directs the volunteers to ascertain the condition of the person. After the details have been collected, the team, along with the NGOs, tries to find an appropriate shelter and the rescued person is admitted there with the help of volunteers. The team then tries to trace the rescued person's family to see if they can be reunited with them. 

‘Kaval Karangal’ can be contacted on Whatsapp (9444717100), email (kavalkarangal@gmail.com), Twitter (https://twitter.com/KavalKarangal) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/kavalkarangal/).