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Poor travellers and migrant labourers will get a comfortable night-stay and dinner for Rs 7 in four major towns in the state - Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur.
The municipal bodies of the state in these towns are sprucing up "Rain Baseras" (shelter homes) at all these towns to provide accommodation at cheaper rates under a scheme named "Ram Roti".
"Municipal Corporations have charted out a plan to provide food and shelter for poor, particularly migrant labourers and poor travellers to stay safe at Rain Baseras situated in prime localities like bus terminals and railway stations. A large number of poor people spend nights at railway stations and bus terminals.
They normally do not get proper food. Municipal Corporation will provide them a complete bed-roll at Rs 2 and dinner at Rs 5 at Rain Baseras. All the rain baseras have other facilities like toilets and safe drinking water," a government official said.
The dinner will be supplied by an NGO Nandi Foundation in Bhopal. "It will depend upon municipal bodies how they will arrange dinner on demand. An attendant will also look after demands of the occupants," said the NGO. The dinner will consist of roti, vegetables, onion and pickle.
The Bhopal Municipal Corporation is sprucing up two Rain Baseras at Rs 30 lakh. The other municipal corporations are also refurbishing the existing accommodation facilities.
"There will 14 such Rain Baseras in Bhopal and each will provide accommodation to at least 300 people." There are plans to create more accommodation in other smaller towns.
As many as 15 million poor live in Madhya Pradesh. Most of them either labourer or beggars, half of them, according to government data, spend nights without shelter either on footpaths, railway stations or bus terminals.
