No night shelter entry without IDs, many homeless battle chilly nights on pavements

Gurgaon: On these harsh cold winter nights, one would expect night shelters to be full. But that’s not the case. One of the reasons is that the homeless are not allowed inside these corporation shelters if they do not have an Aadhaar card or any other identity proof.
The absence of washrooms in the portacabin shelters at Rajiv Chowk, Gurgaon railway station and Sohna Chowk is why women stay away. The nearest public toilets are 200-300 metres away from these shelters.
At present, seven night shelters are functional in the city, of which four are permanent — one each in Bhim Nagar, Kadipur, Darbaripur and Kanhai — and three are portacabins. Apart from these, there are three makeshift shelters at community centres in sectors 4, 15 (part 2) and 47. But the homeless who don’t have an ID, such as daily wagers, beggars and the destitute, are battling through the chilly nights on cold hard pavements under flyovers.
Suresh, who survives on charity, said the caretaker did not allow him to enter the shelter near the railway station. “I sleep on the footpath and eat whatever people give me. I have requested them many times to take me inside, but they always turn me away. I will not survive in such cold conditions,” the man in his late 60s said, wrapping a thin shawl around himself.
While the Kadipur, Sohna Chowk and Railway station shelters provide food and drinking water as well, the ones at Rajeev Chowk and Bhim Nagar have no such facility to offer. Toilets are cleaned regularly at the permanent shelters, but at the Kadipur facility, there is no water connection and the blankets and mattresses don’t seem to be cleaned on a regular basis.
Moreover, there are no woman caretakers. “Women don’t want to come here as most of the people come in an inebriated state. Security becomes a concern for them. This is why we have to turn away the people without IDs, as many drunk men create a ruckus,” a caretaker said.
MCG officials, however, maintained that having identity proof is not mandatory and night shelters are open for all those who need it. “It is not mandatory to have an identity card, but we generally ask for some sort of identification in case there is an emergency so that we know about the person,” said Lekhiram Sharma, MCG assistant project officer.
On an average, around five people have been using each facility since mid November, the officer said. The number has increased to around 10 over the last couple of weeks.
“Now, more people are coming in as the temperature drops. Each shelter has blankets, mattresses and drinking water. We have a tie-up with an NGO to provide food,” Sharma said.