The State government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that it had instructed officials across the State to identify homeless destitutes and provide them food and shelter during the monsoon.
Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha were informed by Additional Government Pleader R. Vijayakumar that Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam had chaired a meeting of Collectors in this regard.
After recording his submission, the judges observed that it was the Constitutional duty of the State to ensure that not even a single life is lost due to non-availability of shelter and other basic requirements.
They also recorded the submission of K. Raja Shrinivas, counsel for the Greater Chennai Corporation, that the civic body was operating 53 shelters, which could accommodate over 9,000 destitutes.
He said 44 of these shelters were functioning from Corporation-owned buildings and nine from rented premises. Further, 13 cater exclusively to persons with special needs.
The court was told that the Corporation conducted a survey every year to identify homeless destitute and admit them in shelters.
Action was also taken on the receipt of information regarding people living on roadsides and street corners.
The submissions were made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by M. Muruganantham in 2018. After recording them, The judges adjourned the case to December 18 to take stock of the action taken by the government and the Corporation.
