DCW expresses concern over poor condition of night shelters

Delhi needs better night shelters and not "night life", DCW has said while terming the existing ones "extremely unsafe for women" after surprise visits by its chief at three such facilities here.
The women's commission also said it will issue notices to DUSIB and the city police following the surprise visits which brought out "shocking facts", including serious security issues.
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal along with her team last night visited three night shelters run by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) in Nizamuddin and Jama Masjid and slept at one of the shelters.
"Delhi needs better night shelters, not a 'night life'. The night shelters are not only few in number, they are extremely unsafe for women," she said.

Maliwal said that at two shelters, several security issues came to light. For instance, she explained, the male and female night shelters were discovered to be adjacent to each other at same complex with no security restrictions in place.
Also, there were few toilets and no separate washrooms for women at the Jama Masjid shelter. And, there was only one woman caretaker while the rest were all male guards.

"The chairperson will be sending a notice to DUSIB to explain the lapses and their preparedness for homeless women in winters.
"Notice will also be issued to the authorities responsible for the street lights in Jama Masjid. Report will be sought from police on the missing children in the area," DCW said.

"There are no CCTV cameras. At the Jama Masjid night shelter, where the DCW team slept, it was observed that friends of the male guards kept pouring in throughout the night.
Maliwal also pointed at a lack of proper lighting and infrastructure.
"The family shelter at Jama Masjid was really shocking as there was no separation between families, not even a simple veil," she said.
Around 110 people were present at the Jama Masjid shelter yesterday, including nearly 60 women and children, DCW said, adding that the water supply from DJB was extremely irregular and even proper food was not made available to the people.

It further added, "In the past 10 days, locals have complained about many children going missing. One girl child aged four went missing from the night shelter three days back and has not been found yet.
DCW also said that there was a need for at least one more women's shelter as the winter was approaching.