Bhubaneswar, Aug. 18: Urban poor in metropolitan cities are almost certainly among the most deprived sections. The city will shortly launch a toll-free service to address their concerns.

In 2009, India, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, released its first-ever report on urban poverty - India: Urban Poverty Report 2009 - which put the rate of urban poverty in India at over 25 per cent.

Bhubaneswar, being the state capital, has also had to contend with urban poverty. The state government's decision to introduce the round-the-clock toll-free helpline is an attempt to extend better services to the urban poor.

The helpline will become operational first in the state capital.

The housing and urban development department, in association with the women and child development department, will introduce the toll-free number, which the needy can avail of for emergency, social and necessary services on the go.

"The urban poor are mostly deprived of the knowledge and information. We are rigorously working to sensitise them on their rights, but we still have a long way to go. The new helpline will add to the services we are already extending to the urban poor," said a housing and urban development department official.

The government already provides night shelters for the urban homeless, and is constructing affordable houses for them under different state and central schemes. It also offers lunch at Rs 5 under the Aahar scheme and free health services at state-run hospitals. Recently, it launched a scheme to provide land rights to slum-dwellers in urban areas.

According to the 2009 report, the nature of urban poverty posed distinct challenges for housing, water, sanitation, health, education, social security, livelihoods and the special needs of vulnerable groups such as women, children and the aging.

Sources said the helpline number could be used to access social protection and elementary basic services such as health, education, food, water and sanitation. The operator at the other end of the line would provide information about government schemes related to urban homeless across the city and refer to the service provider concerned.

"There are a number of helplines for different vulnerable sections of society, but there were none for the urban poor, or the homeless to be specific. Hence, we decided to introduce such a facility for this section to provide quality services," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

The government, under the Deendayal Antodaya Yojna-National Urban Livelihood Mission, is working to provide shelters to the urban homeless in a phased manner. It has decided to introduce the helpline under the same scheme to provide 24-hour emergency and immediate services to the poor.

According to the plan, the two departments will jointly operate the number. The helpline will also provide information on accessing basic entitlements such as ration and voter identity cards and other specific entitlements for all sections of the urban homeless.

In the later stage, the control room will be merged with the city command control centre proposed under the smart city mission.

"This will bridge the gap between the service provider and the needy. With the growing population, the urban poor numbers are also growing. They can't be avoided when we think about development," said social worker Alok Mohanty, adding that every city was judged on how it treated different sections of the population, especially the poor.

"The rich and the middle class are aware and they get their dues. When it comes to the poor, however, they are neither educated nor informed. There is a need to focus on them and it is a good move to introduce a helpline for them," said Mohanty.

The helpline will operate from the equity cell that was recently set up in the housing and urban development department.

The administration has also roped in Tata Trust to support the initiative. The officials of the company would extend support to the delegates of the equity cell so that they could learn the functioning and modalities of the helpline.