Displeased over noncompliance of its earlier orders to furnish the present status of night shelters in different urban local bodies, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has warned the State Government to comply the same before the next date of hearing.
Adjudicating a petition filed in this regard by Orissa High Court advocate Nishikant Mishra, OHRC Acting Chairman Justice (Retd) BK Mishra has asked the Director of Housing and Urban Development department to give details of the night shelters and posted the matter to be heard again on April 25.
Mishra told reporters that he filed the petition in September 2013, and in October same year, the OHRC had issued a notice to the Government asking it to submit a report highlighting its schemes for the homeless, who are spending the nights under flyovers, on footpaths and at railway stations.
The Government, however, in August 2014 informed the commission that out of three proposed night shelters in Bhubaneswar, only one was functioning. Similarly, of the proposed three night shelters in Cuttack, only one was temporarily functioning at Beherasahi at Malgodown.
The Government report also indicated that night shelters in Brahmapur, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Jajpur are under construction, In Puri, out of the two proposed shelters, only one 40-bed shelter was functioning at Dolamandap Sahi. The report was nonetheless silent on the status of the under-construction shelters and time of their possible completion.