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Why Re-defining Homelessness  and Responding to Census Data Should Inform Homeless Policy in India

Why Re-defining Homelessness and Responding to Census Data Should Inform Homeless Policy in India

June 13, 2016 (photo: Vivek Trivedi) The 2011 census counts 17, 73,040 homeless people in India -  52.9 % in urban areas and 47.1% in rural areas – on the basis of a definition that identifies a person or family as homeless if they do not live in a ‘census house,’ which refers to a ‘structure with roof.' Based on this definition, census officials instruct enumerators to visit places where the houseless population is likely to live – roadsides, pavements, near drainage pipes, under read more...

A Human Rights Approach to Housing and Homelessness in India:  A Note on Recommendations by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing

A Human Rights Approach to Housing and Homelessness in India: A Note on Recommendations by the UN Special Rapporteur on the

May 4, 2016   United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha, visited India in late April and recommended that policymakers implement a human rights based housing policy for people in slums and on the streets of cities to address poverty and inequality in this country.  She specifically called for compliance with international human rights laws on the right to an adequate standard of living (General Comment No 4, UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) read more...

Introduction to the India Homeless Resource Network

Introduction to the India Homeless Resource Network

April 22, 2016 The idea for the India Homeless Resource Network (IHRN) arose in August 2015 in a symposium on homelessness in Jaipur organized by Centre for Equity Studies (CES), The Banyan Academy of Leadership on Mental Health (BALM), Institute of Development Studies-Jaipur (IDS) and Taabar in Jaipur. Organizations working with people on the streets and shelters of Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai and Kolkata met to learn about local responses to homelessness across India.   The central question was how read more...