Mumtaz Alam, IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, Oct 9: Tens of thousands of people in the National Capital alone, and millions across the country, have footpath as their permanent address. They are homeless and live in very pitiable condition. Yet, their pain is hardly felt by the society or the government. In order for the society to feel the pain of footpath dwellers firsthand, an NGO came up with an innovative idea.
Rather than holding a seminar or symposium at an air-conditioned hall to talk about the problems of the homeless, Marham, a Delhi-based NGO asked its members and all concerned people of the society to spend one night at the footpath. The NGO held the event at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in the heart of Delhi on Saturday – on the eve of World Homeless Day (10th Oct).
It was its first public event wherein it invited people to feel the pain of footpath dwellers.
“I googled lot and found spending one night at footpath would be novel idea,” said Marham’s president Irtiza Quraishi.
Those who spent whole night or some hours on the footpath included Quraishi and his team; Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia; Bipin Kumar Rai, member, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, an entity of the Delhi government chaired by its chief minister; social activists Indu Prakash Singh and Ovais Sultan Khan and IAS officer from Hyderabad Mohammad Saem.
“Rai remained there for whole night. He left at 5:30 am,” informed Quraishi.
#FeelTheFootpath का आयोजन कर रहे @MARHAM_ORG ने फुटपाथ पर कई कई साल से फुटपाथ पर सोने वाले लोगों की ज़िन्दगी बदल दी है| उनके प्रयास को सलाम| pic.twitter.com/GPFbAUXOmx
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) October 8, 2016
Talking about the idea behind Marham, Quraishi told IndiaTomorrow.net: I live in Old Delhi. Right from my childhood, I have seen homeless people sitting just outside my house and at other places. I have seen them in terrible condition – a condition worse than one in which animals live. I used to think about them and what can be done for them. I would think about ideas about what actually could be done to change their life and make them look like normal human being.
I quit my job at American Express to work for the homeless
Delhi University alumnus Quraishi, who did his schooling at prestigious Hamdard Public School, came up with the idea but when he found his job at an MNC is coming in the way of fully executing the idea, he quit it.
“Two years ago, I discussed it with some of my friends and possible solutions of this major problem. I used to work in a multinational company – American Express – two years ago. I started drafting a project for the homeless but because of 8-10 hour job I could not execute the idea about one year. So I finally decided to quit my job and I resigned from the American Express and then decided to take the idea further,” said Quraishi.
What is Marham doing?
Quraishi and his friends started it in December 2015 and have since engaged 11 homeless youths. Marham’s primary objective is to systematically choose young homeless youth from the streets of Delhi and work for the betterment of their life.
“In December last year, we finally decided to come together and start this project on the ground level. I and some of my friends gathered some money and took a 3-BHK apartment on rent and in 10 months we have been able to take 11 homeless youths there,” said Quraishi.
“Six of them have been enrolled in an electrical course and they will be professional electricians in a year or two. Five are doing plumbing course. We have got them Aaadhar cards, and now seven of them are also enrolled in NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) where they have started their studies again. We are also providing them English speaking course and basic computer course,” informed Quraishi.
It seems the Delhi government is impressed by the work of Marham. This was evident from the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia.
Around 11 PM, possibly from the footpath, he tweeted appreciating the effort of Marham.
“#FeelTheFootpath का आयोजन कर रहे @MARHAM_ORG ने फुटपाथ पर कई कई साल से फुटपाथ पर सोने वाले लोगों की ज़िन्दगी बदल दी है| उनके प्रयास को सलाम|”.
“We have given a proposal to the Delhi govt. it has offered a bigger place to us,” said Quraishi.
In the year 2011 in Delhi, the Supreme Court Commissioner’s Office, which used a new technique to map the homeless, reportedly found the number of the homeless to be 2,46,800. However, the Census 2011 found 46,724 homeless people.
