By C V Joseph

Bengaluru, Dec. 27, 2018: Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore has joined a survey being conducted on urban and homeless in Bengaluru, capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (Great Bangalore Corporation) assigned the responsibility of conducting the survey in the West and South Zones of Bengaluru to the NGOs under the leadership of Father Edward Thomas, founder of Dream India Network that looks after hundreds of children in foster homes in the state.

Dream India Network and Impact India Consortium jointly conduct the survey in different parts of Bengaluru city.

The survey was initiated in association with 35 voluntary organizations. The leaders include Father Thomas, the project holder of Urban Homeless Survey (from Dream India Network) and Uday Kumar, convener-Impact India, Sampath.

Archbishop Machado joined the group for the night survey for a day. The prelate mingled with others in the group and visited the urban homeless at Kalasipalyam temple and the Naada Prabhu Kempegowda Railway station. He gave patient hearing to the residents’ struggle. He also covered people sleeping in the cold weather with blankets.

After completion of the survey the archbishop celebrated Christmas in one of the urban homeless shelters at Majestic and had supper with the residents. “We all need to work together for solutions and he urged everyone to take an active role,” he told the survey team.

An orientation program for the enumerators was organized at BOSCO Mane to train them for the survey work.

In his inaugural address, Father Thomas noted that land is available in the district for the destitute and homeless but buildings have to be built. He said it was heartbreaking to see “our fellow human beings lying on the road side and not being taken care of.”

The program was also attended by representatives of several NGOs.

The survey in the West Zone started on December 14, flagged off by Jagadeesh, Deputy Commissioner. He exhorted Dream India Network and Impact India Consortium to do survey in the places inaccessible. The survey continued in the nights on December 15 and 16, in all the areas suggested by the Deputy Commissioner.

The survey of the South zone started from December 18 for three days.

Nearly 60 enumerators and 30 voluntary organizations participated in the survey and identified 1,282 homeless people in the South Zone. The survey continued in the nights of December 19 and 20, in the areas suggested by the Deputy Commissioner.

The three-day survey identified a total of 1,255 urban homeless people in those zones. This survey was undertaken between 10 pm to 2 am.