The apathetic attitude of Government officials towards women can be gauged from the fact the State Capital does not have any shelter home for destitute women where they can stay safely during night.
The district administration has set up Rain baseras for the the homeless at two places in the city but they are strictly for men only. The District administration and Municipal Corporation of Dehradun have set up these Rain Baseras near the clock tower and Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) where more than 200 destitute get shelter during night. When this correspondent visited the Rain Basera located near clock tower on Friday the manager informed that they do not allow the females to stay in the shelter home as it is strictly for males. He said that occasionally many females visit the Rain Basera but they are denied entry as per the rules.
When contacted the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) administration Jharna Kamthan told The Pioneer that the destitute women are sent to the Nari Niketan by the district administration if need arises. She said that at the district at present do not have any separate Rain Basera for the women. The founder of ‘Samadhan help line for women’ Renu D Singh strongly advocated for setting up a separate Rain Basera for women. She said that the district administration should ensure that such shelter home is totally safe for the women. Singh suggested that any government building located in heart of the city can be used as shelter home for women.
The Rain Basera located near clock tower houses about 100 homeless people daily. The management of this shelter home is in the hands of ‘Doon Shelters Society for homeless’. The Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) constructed this double storied shelter home in the year 2011. The society charges Rs 5 per day for stay in the shelter home and provides a mattress, pillow and woolen blanket and also gives a soap to every destitute. The homeless can enter the shelter home from 7 – 10 pm and had to leave it at 6 am. The manager of the Rain Basera Deepak Kukreti informed that many times the inmates steal the waters taps and other things of the shelter home.