New Delhi: For years, Rohini’s Asha Kiran, one of Delhi’s largest shelter homes for people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, was grossly overcrowded. Wards routinely exceeded their capacities and residents were forced to share mattresses. Frequent deaths were not unheard of — many due to illnesses linked to poor living conditions. Following years of public scrutiny and judicial intervention, a bit of relief, although limited in nature and scope, is finally discernible, aided in part by the opening of a new facility. The push to improve the condition of Asha Kiran follows a series of unsavoury incidents in the past. In 2010, a ministerial committee, set up in the wake of 57 deaths at the complex in 2009 and 2010, recommended its immediate decongestion. At the time, it used to house around 970 residents, far exceeding its designated capacity of 570.In 2015, a Comptroller and Auditor General audit flagged severe overcrowding, noting that earlier recommendations had still not been implemented. While Delhi govt acknowledged the issue, work to free it up was gradual until mid-2024, when the situation escalated dramatically. Between Jan and July of that year, more than 20 residents died; at least 14 of the deaths were reported in July.The spike in fatalities triggered suo motu action by National Human Rights Commission and sustained intervention by Delhi High Court. The latter ordered audits of the health of the Asha Kiran residents and the quality of water supplied. It also directed authorities to urgently decongest the shelter by shifting its residents to alternative facilities.Since late 2024, the matter has remained under judicial monitoring, with govt told to identify new premises, upgrade existing shelters in the city and submit regular compliance reports.It is in this backdrop that Atal Asha Home in Narela, a Rs 41-crore facility with a capacity of 220 residents, was inaugurated last year.Simultaneously, male residents of Asha Kiran started being gradually relocated in smaller batches: 30 to Asha Deep, another home, and 34 to a Delhi Development Authority community centre.This triggered a domino. Asha Deep, till then a male-only shelter with 120 residents, saw its strength rise to 150. Soon, all 150 men were relocated to Atal Asha Home. This move emptied Asha Deep, allowing it to be repurposed. Fifty women were shifted from Asha Kiran to Asha Jyoti and 150 to Asha Deep, cutting the occupancy of Asha Kiran’s women wing by nearly 40%. Currently, Asha Jyoti houses 170 residents, Asha Deep 150, Atal Asha 150 and the community centre 34. This redistribution exercise has resulted in Asha Kiran’s occupancy reducing by nearly 27% — from 984 to 720. While the shelter in Rohini, long synonymous with neglect and overcrowding, still continues to house more people than it’s sanctioned to, spreading the load across multiple facilities marks govt’s first sustained effort towards providing its residents with what they need the most: personalised care and a helping hand on their path to social inclusion.
