Rs 700 cr lying idle while poor shiver in cold

TIRUPATI: Night shelters are imperative in cities and towns where there are thousands of workers without home, CPI district secretary P Harinath Reddy said and demanded that the government should take up the construction of night homes immediately.Reddy, who is also the president of AP Building and Construction Workers Union, said that such shelters are essential in places like Tirupati.Political parties too do not take the issue seriously though thousands of people, unable to afford decent accommodation, are forced to spend their nights under wretched conditions.Reddy said there was no dearth of funds at all; only initiative is lacking.The building and other construction workers welfare fund now stands at Rs 700 crore and is growing steadily.Out of this, about 100 crore could be spent easily for the construction of night shelters in the towns and cities to end the plight of the homeless, he said.Child Welfare Committee district chairperson R Meera too says night shelters are an immediate need; more so in the case of children and women, who are often subjected to abuse due to lack of secure accommodation during nights.At places like Tirupati, dozens of poor children arrive daily as the city is wellconnected by rail and the children manage to travel without ticket.They manage food through labour or with the charity of many institutions offering free food, mainly to pilgrims.But many poor people also get the benefit, Meera said.An official from the municipal corporation said there was every need for the civic body to take up the construction of night shelters at least at four locations.This will also help bring down crime in the pilgrim town.Social worker Chandra Babu pointed that there are dozens of huge kalyanamandapams constructed by the TTD, but not even a single function takes place at many of them.The TTD, instead of wasting devotees' money on such buildings, could take up construction of night shelters, showing the way for others.Further, it is not a big thing for the TTD to get donors for these buildings, he said.