Param Jeet Kaur (activist): Difference between revisions

Param Jeet Kaur is a distinguished Indian social activist, senior citizen leader, and human rights advocate. She is the Secretary and Director of Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan (AAA), a Delhi based NGO she co-founded to secure the rights, dignity, and healthcare of the urban homeless. Over a career spanning more than four decades, she has pioneered the “bottom-up” approach to social intervention, focusing on the systemic empowerment of the most vulnerable members of society.

Before founding AAA, Param Jeet Kaur spent approximately 18 years working with various NGOs dedicated to the underprivileged. Her specific focus on homelessness was born from a troubling observation: children living on the streets were often supported by various programs, but were abandoned by the system once they reached adulthood, falling back into a cycle of homelessness. This realization, coupled with the lack of support for the elderly and the mentally ill on the streets, became the catalyst for her independent mission.

In 2000, Kaur launched a citizens’ campaign to make the state accountable for the homeless, at a time when no official “blueprint” for such an issue existed in India.

• The 15-Night Survey: In 2000, she led a team of volunteers, including school and college students, to conduct the city’s first-ever systematic headcount. They surveyed the streets for 15 consecutive nights, identifying 53,765 homeless individuals half of whom were found to be suffering from mental illness.
• Formalization: After a decade of grassroots campaigning and mobilization, the organization was formally registered as an NGO in 2010, with Kaur assuming the roles of Secretary and Director.

Kaur’s work is defined by a Rights-Based and Need-Based Policy, emphasizing that shelter and health are inalienable human rights. Her key strategic pillars include:

• Bottom-Up Mobilization: Transforming the homeless from passive recipients of aid into an active “people’s participation movement.”
• Health Outreach: Establishing the Health Outreach Clinic and collaborating with the Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) to provide psychiatric care for the mentally ill on the streets. Under her leadership, the organization has delivered healthcare services to over 1 million people.
• Night Outreach: Implementing twice-weekly “Night-Outs” (from 10 PM to 4 AM) to address medical emergencies, intervene in cases of police harassment, and provide immediate relief like blankets and clothing.^[1]

By 2017, the initiatives led by Kaur had achieved significant scale:

• 12 Million Beds: Through a network of permanent and temporary shelters managed in collaboration with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), AAA has provided over 12 million bed-nights to the homeless.^[2]
• Identity and Citizenship: Kaur has been a central figure in ensuring that the homeless are not just sheltered but recognized by the state. This includes securing Voter ID cards and bank accounts, which she views as the “beginning of citizenship rights.”

Kaur has placed a significant focus on the intersection of homelessness and mental health. She advocates for the view that mental illness is both a cause and a consequence of homelessness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AAA remained operational on the ground, providing meals to thousands daily and facilitating the treatment and family reunification of over 300 mentally ill destitute individuals.

Kaur is a staunch advocate for “humanizing” the homeless. She argues that living in a state of constant vulnerability strips individuals of self-esteem and confidence. Her objective is to restore this dignity through empowerment and active participation, ensuring that the community itself plays a role in managing shelters and advocating for policy changes.

• Secretary and Director, Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan (AAA).
• Senior Consultant, Right-based intervention policies for the Delhi Government.
• Member, Governing bodies focusing on Mental Health and Urban Destitution.

1. Over 12 Million Beds and Health Care to 1 Million Homeless People: This Organization Is Changing Delhi Streets, The Better India (2017).[1]
2. Humanising Delhi’s Homeless: An Interview With AAA’s Param Jeet Kaur, Sydney Criminal Lawyers (2022).[2]
3. Governing Body, Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan Official Website.[3]
4. Protecting Homeless People From Cold Waves, PHIA Foundation (2016).[4]
5. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/aug/21/its-their-last-resort-delhi-high-court-decriminalises-begging