Homeless

1. Understanding homelessness and its measurement

Homelessness describes the absence of a safe, secure and habitable place in which to live. Its most visible form is rough sleeping on streets, pavements, railway premises, riverbanks and under bridges. However, housing exclusion also includes repeated movement between temporary shelters, workplaces and insecure arrangements with others. These wider forms are not fully captured by the Census category of houseless population. A person may possess an identity document or own a distant rural dwelling yet remain homeless in the city where they work.

Census 2011 counted approximately 17.7 lakh houseless persons. This remains an important national baseline, but it must not be treated as a current estimate. Mobile populations, concealed sleeping places, seasonal migration and fear of authorities complicate enumeration. Women and children may seek less visible locations for safety and therefore escape street-based counts. Counts conducted in different seasons or at different hours can produce substantially different results.

Homelessness results from interacting structural and personal circumstances. High rents, insecure wages, inadequate rental housing, eviction and displacement combine with domestic violence, family abandonment, disability, illness and disasters. Many homeless adults work as construction labourers, waste pickers, vendors, loaders or other informal workers. Their homelessness reflects the mismatch between earnings and housing costs rather than an absence of economic contribution. Rural homelessness also requires attention, particularly among landless households and people displaced by disasters.

• Distinguish houselessness, an enumeration category, from the broader policy concept of housing insecurity.
• Use repeated local surveys, outreach records and participatory mapping rather than relying exclusively on a single census count.

2. Constitutional rights and legal safeguards

Article 21 protects life and personal liberty and has been interpreted to encompass life with dignity. In Chameli Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 1996, the Supreme Court explained that shelter involves more than a roof: it includes conditions necessary for a dignified life. Article 14 requires equal protection, while Article 19(1)(e) protects citizens’ freedom to reside and settle throughout India, subject to constitutional restrictions. These provisions do not automatically create an unrestricted right to occupy any public land.

Directive Principles strengthen the social-protection rationale. Article 38 calls for a social order informed by justice; Article 39(a) concerns adequate means of livelihood; Article 41 addresses public assistance within the State’s economic capacity; and Article 47 concerns nutrition, living standards and public health. Under the Twelfth Schedule, urban poverty alleviation and slum improvement are municipal functions, although actual responsibilities depend on state legislation and devolution.

In Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation, 1985, the Supreme Court recognised livelihood as an aspect of Article 21 while considering pavement dwellers’ eviction. The judgment did not establish an absolute prohibition on eviction. The policy lesson is that clearance drives must respect applicable law, procedural safeguards and human consequences. Homelessness itself should not be treated as proof of criminality. Child-protection, disability and mental-health laws impose additional responsibilities where individuals need care, support or protection.

• The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 provides a protection framework for children in need of care and protection, including children living on the streets.
• The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 recognises community living and establishes safeguards and responsibilities concerning homeless persons with mental illness.

3. Shelter provision and welfare convergence

The Scheme of Shelters for Urban Homeless, a component of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Urban Livelihoods Mission, provides an important national policy framework. Its guidelines envisage permanent, all-weather, round-the-clock shelters with essential services. Planning norms include provision for at least 100 persons for every one lakh urban population, with actual capacity determined by local need. Essential facilities include drinking water, sanitation, bathing spaces, lighting, ventilation, fire safety and arrangements for belongings.

Shelters should be located near concentrations of homeless people and livelihood opportunities rather than on inaccessible peripheral land. Separate or appropriately designed facilities are needed for women, families and people requiring special assistance. An overnight bed alone is inadequate for a person recovering from illness, a mother with children or a worker whose employment occurs at night. Community organisations can support operations and outreach, but public authorities retain responsibility for standards, funding and oversight.

A shelter should also function as an access point for entitlements. Relevant linkages include ration access under the National Food Security Act, eligible social pensions, public healthcare, school enrolment, banking and livelihood support. One Nation One Ration Card facilitates portability for existing eligible beneficiaries; it does not automatically enrol someone excluded from ration databases. Aadhaar alone is likewise not a welfare entitlement. Assisted enrolment, permissible alternative verification and case management are essential to overcome documentation barriers.

• Treat emergency shelters, transitional accommodation, affordable rental housing and permanent housing as complementary interventions.
• Match housing programmes to eligibility and tenure constraints; not every homeless household can directly access a house-ownership subsidy.

4. Differentiated vulnerability and implementation gaps

Homeless people are not a homogeneous group. Women face sexual violence, menstrual-health difficulties and exclusion from male-dominated shelters. Families may avoid facilities that separate parents and children. Older persons and persons with disabilities may need accessible toilets, assistive devices and sustained care. Transgender persons can experience discrimination in admission and unsafe gender-based accommodation. Children require education, nutrition and protection from exploitation, not simply placement in adult night shelters.

Exposure to heat, cold, flooding, air pollution and unsafe water raises health risks. Tuberculosis, untreated injuries and chronic diseases are harder to manage without storage, nutrition or a stable place to recover. Mental illness and substance dependence may be causes or consequences of homelessness, but should never be presumed in every case. Outreach must connect people to appropriate services without coercion, stigma or unnecessary institutionalisation.

Implementation often suffers from poor location, inadequate capacity, irregular staffing, weak maintenance and fragmented responsibilities. Restrictive admission hours, document demands, theft, violence or inability to retain belongings can discourage use. Low occupancy therefore does not necessarily indicate low need. Conversely, overcrowding during extreme weather may conceal year-round service failures. Police, municipal bodies, health departments and welfare agencies require clear coordination instead of repeatedly moving people between jurisdictions.

• Assess safety, accessibility and users’ experiences alongside bed numbers and occupancy.
• Involve homeless persons in shelter design, rules, monitoring and grievance redress.

5. Towards a rights-based housing pathway

The first priority is preventing avoidable homelessness. Timely wage payments, emergency rent assistance, domestic-violence support, disaster relief and discharge planning from hospitals or institutions can stop people from falling onto the streets. City-level plans should integrate shelter provision with affordable rental housing, land-use planning and employment locations. Eviction and redevelopment decisions must account for displacement risks and applicable rehabilitation obligations.

The second priority is a continuous pathway from outreach to stable accommodation. Multidisciplinary teams should identify needs, offer immediate protection, facilitate documents and benefits, and develop an individual or household support plan. Family reunification should occur only where safe and voluntary. Housing First approaches offer a useful lesson: stable housing can provide the foundation for recovery and employment rather than being withheld until people meet behavioural conditions. Indian adaptation requires affordable supply and continuing support.

Finally, accountability must shift from construction outputs to human outcomes. Useful indicators include reduction in rough sleeping, successful entitlement enrolment, continuity of healthcare, sustained housing retention and fewer returns to homelessness. Municipal budgets should cover operations and maintenance, not merely buildings. Independent inspections, accessible complaints mechanisms and anonymised public reporting can improve performance while protecting privacy. The objective is not to make poverty less visible, but to enable secure housing, dignity and social participation.

• Combine universal basic services with targeted support for people facing multiple disadvantages.
• Protect consent and personal data when maintaining outreach and beneficiary records.

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