Patna, Dec. 30: Laloo Prasad Yadav may call his party?s rally Kisan Mazdoor Maha Raila but Rashtriya Janata Dal workers do not hesitate to rob the homeless of their shelter in the winter chill.

?If Laloo Prasad?s men hadn?t dismantled the makeshift tents across the Gandhi Maidan, many of us would have got shelter there in these cold winter nights,? said Dinesh Paswan, a rickshaw-puller, who sleeps in his cycle-rickshaw, parked near the district magistrate?s residence. A lucky few have found temporary shelter in tents built under the Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan, an initiative of Action Aid.

A headcount conducted by Abhiyan workers a few months ago in 44 areas of the capital revealed that there were at least 13,000 homeless people, who spend their nights in the open at Gandhi Maidan, on pavements, railway platforms and under bridges.

?Some of the most ?invisible? residents who share the cities with us are the homeless, who are mostly labourers, rickshaw-pullers, beggars, sick and abandoned people and drug addicts ? all of whom sleep under the open sky. Their actual number could be a lot more,? said Dorothy Fernandez, coordinator of the Abhiyan.

Led by her, Abhiyan workers could be seen on the streets of the city scouting for free public space to construct temporary shelters with the help of the administration. ?Our interaction with the homeless made us look for sleeping places especially for winter. We?ve tried to make this an issue in the capital and invite people from all walks of life to search for ways of reaching out to this section,? Fernandez said.

Abhiyan recently inaugurated its fourth shelter home on the Gol Ghar campus. The thatched shed, a joint effort of Action Aid and the Indian Red Cross Society, was with the support of divisional commissioner Ramesh Abhishek. The home has a capacity of 150. Other shelters of Abhiyan are located in three government schools of the capital.

The Abhiyan?s long-term goal is to create ?inclusive cities? where all citizens will enjoy equal rights, live with dignity and avail of basic services regardless of economic and social status. It also envisages changes in urban planning and housing policies to secure accessible shelter for the homeless.

At a workshop here a month ago, state Cabinet secretary Vijay Prakash stressed the need for inclusive cities. ?A certain percentage of accommodation should be kept aside for the working classes when new colonies and flats are constructed,? he said.