44 homeless people die in Delhi, CM Kejriwal holds this man responsible

According to the report, 44 people died in from January 1 to January 6, including a two-year-old child.

A woman sits next to a fire with her son on a cold winter morning on the outskirts of New Delhi on January 3, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Prakash SINGH

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lashed out at Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) CEO, Shurbir Singh, calling him a “useless officer” after reports emerged of 44 homeless persons dying in the national capital due to prevailing cold conditions in January first week. Kejriwal has issued a show cause notice to Singh saying the latter was hired by Delhi LG Anil Baijal without consultation. He questioned “how do we run government like this.” Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari alleged Kejriwal did hasn’t been taking the matter seriously or else lives could have been saved.

Media reporting 44 deaths of homeless due to cold. Am issuing show cause notice to CEO, DUSIB. Negligible deaths last year. This year, LG appointed a useless officer. LG refuses to consult us before appointing officers. How do we run govt like this?

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 8, 2018

He is same officer for whom Assembly Committee recommended adverse remarks in his Service record. Chief Secretary Kutty went to HC to defend this officer against Committee. Hon’ble LG will never act against such officers. https://t.co/r9WciyVfuR — Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) January 8, 2018

"At least 42 homeless people have died in the first one week of January 2018, and this information has been confirmed by the Ministry of Home Affairs," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party President Manoj Tiwari told reporters. Citing a figure, he also said that since December, over 250 homeless people have died. Hitting out at the Chief Minister for preferring the Rajya Sabha elections and candidates over the homeless, the BJP MP said: "If Kejriwal would have taken more interest in the homeless instead of his Rajya Sabha candidates, then we would not have heard about the deaths." As per the reports of the Centre for Holistic Development, at least 40,633 homeless people have died in Delhi since January 1, 2004. The report according to news agency IANS also claimed that in December 2017 alone, 250 people died on the streets.