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Need of hour at homeless shelters: Masks and sanitisers
New Delhi: At the Delhi government-run shelter home at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), children ask the shelter home caretaker for sanitisers
New Delhi:
At the Delhi government-run shelter home at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), children ask the shelter home caretaker for sanitisers and masks.
A civil society member distributed a few masks and sanitisers but these are not clearly enough. With a rise in coronavirus cases in the city, non-profit organisations managing such shelter homes have asked the Delhi government to provide sanitisers and masks to the occupants.
“Though there has been no community transmission so far, people in these shelter homes are a vulnerable lot. We have requested the government to provide essential items such as masks and sanitisers here,” said Rajesh, director of Society for the Promotion of Youth and Masses, which manages 60 of the 190-odd shelter homes run by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).
With nearly 250 people, mostly patients, living in the SPYM-managed shelter home at AIIMS, Rajesh said these people are susceptible to contracting the contagious infection.
“We have been tasked to maintain the facility. But we can’t provide these people sanitisers and masks as we don’t have so much funds. We work with limited resources. It is government’s responsibility to provide such items that are essential to contain the spread of the disease,” said Paramjeet Kaur, head of Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan, which manages 12 shelters in Delhi.
A large number of shelters intermittently, though, get help from civil society groups or other non-government organisations that distribute medicines, clothes, food items, etc., free of cost to the residents.
“But for the past two-three weeks, this has stopped,” said Uttam, caretaker of the shelter at AIIMS. “There was an NGO that used to distribute medicines for free here. The person told me they won’t come for a month,” he added.
A civil society member, though, had gone to the shelter on Monday and distributed a few masks and sanitisers.
“I want a mask too,” said six-year-old Sakina, who is undergoing treatment at AIIMS and lives at the shelter home across the road. The children at the shelter do not know the name of the infectious disease (Covid-19) but know what needs to be done to fight it.
“We have to wash our hands regularly, not touch our face, use sanitsers and maintain distance from people with fever and cough,” said Kajal (10), whose brother and sister are undergoing treatment.
Lying on the mattress on the floor, 11-year-old Gulfiza, who is undergoing radiation therapy after a cancerous tumour was removed from her shoulder recently, says the civil society members taught them about the precautionary measures. “They gave me a mask that has cartoon characters printed on it,” she said.
Though no case of community transmission has been reported so far, it can’t be ruled out. Indu Prakash, member of the Supreme Court-appointed state-level shelter monitoring committee, said, “It is an emergency situation and the government must take measures to ensure people living in shelter homes are protected. It is their responsibility. The government must provide sanitisers and masks.”
A senior DUSIB official in-charge of the shelter home said, “We have issued advisories to all shelter homes regarding coronavirus. They are supposed to provide sanitiser and masks. Some NGO managing the facilities did distribute masks recently. We will review the situation and issue instructions accordingly.”
