Now the demand for an identity proof meant that many people are forced to sleep in the open in biting cold.

Ghaziabad: In the worst case of official insensitivity and apathy, officials in Uttar Pradesh have denied poor and homeless people entry to shelter homes for lack of identity proof.

The shameless behaviour of UP authorities has left the poor and homeless people in biting cold that has gripped entire northern India.

Temporary shelter homes offer the much-needed respite to daily wage labourers and the homeless.

Mirror Now went on the ground to see the status of some of these shelter homes in Noida and Ghaziabad. While most of the shelter homes are brimming with people, Mirror Now discovers that the occupancy in these shelter homes is given only to those who have identity proof.

Now the demand for an identity proof meant that many people are forced to sleep in the open in biting cold.

In the chilly winter nights in the National Capital Region (NCR), shelter homes are the only refuge for the poor and homeless who have no roof over their heads and want to escape the bone-chilling winter.

Ghaziabad has six temporary shelter homes set up for winters, while Noida has just one.

While the district administration claims that these shelters are for the poor, but there is a barrier at the entry. The shelter homes insist on Aadhaar cards or identity proof for the entry.

"We have been told not to allow entry to these shelter homes without an identity proof or Aadhaar card. Those who don't have any identity proof first have to go to a police post to take permission or call 112 for permission," said a labourer.