GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3049
TO BE ANSWERED ON DECEMBER 18, 2025
SCHEME OF SHELTER FOR URBAN HOMELESS
NO. 3049. MR. PATHAN YUSUF:
Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government has enumerated the number of homeless people in
the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the total...
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3049 TO BE ANSWERED ON DECEMBER 18, 2025 SCHEME OF SHELTER FOR URBAN HOMELESS NO. 3049. MR. PATHAN YUSUF:
Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government has enumerated the number of homeless people in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the total number of urban and rural homeless people, gender and age- wise;
(c) the details and the number of shelter homes created under the Scheme of Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) since its inception, year-wise; and
(d) the details of the current occupancy of these shelter homes, gender and age- wise? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU)
(a) & (b): As per Census of India 2011, a total of 17,73,040 people are houseless in the country, out of which 9,38,348 are in urban areas and 8,34,692 are in rural areas. Total population of male and female houseless people are 10,46,871 and 7,26,169 respectively. The information is available at:
https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/5047/download/8124/PCA_ HL_2011_Release.xls]. Age-wise details of Houseless population is not maintained by this Ministry.
(c): As reported by States / UTs, on 30.09.2024, 1,995 shelters for urban homeless were operational across the country under Shelter for Urban Homeless component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission. Year-wise detail is at Annexure-I. DAY-NULM ended on 30.09.2024.
(d): As per operational guidelines for ‘Scheme of Shelter for Urban Homeless’, the operation and maintenance of shelters was the responsibility of the respective States/UTs. Therefore, gender and age-wise details regarding occupancy of shelter homes is not maintained by this Ministry.
*****ANNEXURE-I REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF LOK SABHA QUESTION NO.
3049 TO BE ANSWERED ON DECEMBER 18, 2025 Sl No. Financial Year Number of Shelters made operational 1 2014-15 227 2 2015-16 103 3 2016-17 346 4 2017-18 324 5 2018-19 301 6 2019-20 105 7 2020-21 180 8 2021-22 106 9 2022-23 123 10 2023-24 141 11 2024-25 39
01.04.2024 to 30.09.2024)