No home for those seeking medical help in Delhi

Quite a few of the families which live on the road in Delhi have come to the city for medical treatment. Unable to find a place to put themselves up, they end up on the roads.

“This is an all-male shelter, so I cannot stay so my husband also does not use the shelter because I would then be left alone outside," says Vimla Devi, who had come from Badaiyu after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

At Nigam Bodh Ghat, people line up for food which is donated by wealthy Delhiites. Last month, at a night shelter at Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, Rupa had delivered a baby boy. But since there was no immediate medical help, the baby died within minutes of birth.

“We do not even have enough money to have a meal, how could I arrange for a doctor for my daughter-in-law. But now I wish I had worked a little harder, at least my grandson would have been alive,” said Seema.

Also Read: ‘Night life’ in Delhi

Seema works as the cleaner in the same night shelter, and this is the only source of her income, while her son collects scrap. However, Seema and her relatives, who are all from Bihar, apparently, do not allow others to stay at the shelter, according to authorities.

Suraj Kumar, who is the in charge of an adjoining shelter, pointed out to an elderly person sleeping nearby and said even he is not allowed inside any of the shelters.

The night shelter in Sarai Kale Khan is even more difficult to live in for the inmates as the toilets here have either been kept closed or they are in so bad a condition that no one wants to use them.

“Although we get a roof overhead, the winter is severe. My grandson had caught a fever and had to go back to our village in Bihar,” said Ram Adesh at Nigam Bodh Ghat depot night shelter.