Lok Sabha polls: Delhi's homeless to vote on roti, kapda and makaan

For the capital's homeless community, getting a voter ID is an uphill task

Flurries of dust rise up on the Yamuna Pushta, the embankment on both sides of river Yamuna. A man lies in the hot sun, too sick to crawl into the shade. Oblivious to his plight, a group of men sit nearby, waiting for the Block Level Officer (BLO) to verify the details on their voter registration forms. “I don’t want a voter ID only because I want to vote,” says Vijay Kumar, who’s been living on the banks of the Yamuna for the last seven years. “I want it because it will be the first ID card I’ll possess.” 

Kumar isn’t alone. In Yamuna Pushta dozens of men have no identification documents. But now they see a ray of hope, thanks to the final voter registration camp organised by the Delhi government on April 7 and 8 before the country went into its seven-phase general elections. Over 2,700 homeless people applied for voter cards. “Of the 785 applications we helped fill during this camp, at least 448 have been verified already,” says Gufran Alam of Aman Biradari, an NGO which works with Delhi’s homeless. “We hope that more will come through in the next few days.” 

An estimated 10,000 homeless citizens will be able to vote in the upcoming elections. While this is good news for the capital’s homeless community, many believe that it is too little, too late. Most of the 1.8 lakh people living on Delhi’s streets continue to remain disenfranchised and, hence, disempowered.

A voter ID too far

The Delhi Election Commission’s motto is "no voter left behind” and it accepts night shelters, street lights and flyovers as temporary addresses so long as they are verified by a BLO. Yet, in Yamuna Pushta, many longtime residents have had their voter ID applications rejected multiple times. Mohanlal, 62, has applied for a voter card thrice — unsuccessfully. “Every time the BLO came to verify the application, I was working or not around.” he says. That is why Vijay Kumar and others are staying away from work now so that they do not miss the BLO’s visit this time. 

Alam says that the success of the verification process often depends on how sympathetic the BLO is. “The North Delhi voter centre has been proactive. The maximum number of voter cards issued to the homeless are in this area,” he says. “In contrast, voter centres in Kalkaji and Jangpura have been less cooperative and rejection rates are higher there.” 

Quest for identity

Sonu Sharma, a longtime resident of Yamuna Pushta, says he has been unable to get an Aadhaar Card, a ration card or a bank account because he has no proof of address. “I earn Rs 700 a day, but have no safe place to keep my money,” he says. Milan Chakravarty, 54, speaks fluent English. “I haven’t been able to get a good job as I have no identification papers,” he says. “Often, when I’m returning late at night from work, the police demand ID proof,” adds Kumar. All of them hope that once they get their first legal identification in the form of a voter ID card, they would be able to use it to apply for other identity cards such as Aadhaar and access social security schemes. 

However, Fatima Bibi, who lives near Jama Masjid, says she could not use her voter ID, which she got early this year, to apply for an Aadhaar Card or a bank account. “The voter ID simply lists me as ‘homeless’ instead of specifying the address of the shelter where I live,” she says. “So it can’t be used as an address proof.”  

Poll issues for the homeless

“Roti, kapda and makaan (food, clothing and shelter) will be their biggest election issues,” says Amit Sinha of Jamghat, an NGO that works with street children in Old Delhi. In Jama Masjid and Yamuna Pushta, most admit that the AAP government has improved and expanded the shelter facilities for the homeless.  

But it may not be enough. “In summer, it is impossible to sleep inside these pre-fabricated metal shelters,” says Vijay Kumar. “In winter, there simply isn't enough space for all of us.” 

Eighteen-year-old Khushnuma Begum stitches bags at the Jamghat vocational training centre. “When our jhuggi in Shanti Van was razed, we didn’t even receive any compensation,” says Begum, who comes to work along with her two toddlers. “I had no option but to become a beggar,” she says. Today, she earns about Rs 250 a day and says she will vote for the party that promises better employment opportunities for the homeless.

However, some like rickshaw-puller Rajesh Kumar, resident of Yamuna Pushta for the last 40 years, are so bogged down by their circumstances that they have given up on the democratic process. He points to the sick man lying prone in the sun. “The municipal authorities will wake up after he’s been dead for days and starts to rot,” he says. “We live in hell — what good will it do to us to vote in this election?