Amid Covid Crisis, Sanaur Ashram Hit by Fund Crunch

In a dingy corner, 30-year-old Hina waits for her brunch. She will be given food only twice a day now, but she is not complaining. All she does is to keep staring at the door in the hope that someone will bring her something to eat, but she cannot speak her mind.

Over 225 inmates, a majority of them orphaned children, mentally retarded, handicapped, old-aged and destitute, at the Sanaur’s All-India Pingla Ashram have been left to fend for themselves ever since the Covid curfew started. With the lockdown and curfew hours, the ration and cash donations have stopped completely.

The mandatory fruits and tea with biscuits have also stopped. The ashram also runs a school for children of poor people who live in slums. It also takes care of patients who are abandoned by civil hospitals due to unavailability of attendants.

“I do not know till how long I would be able to manage the affairs as there is no help coming from the administration or local residents. For the past 10 days, local supplies donated by residents everyday has almost stopped and even the cash donations have stopped,” says caretaker of the ashram, Baba Balbir Singh. “I have exhausted all my means and now I am left with ration for three days to feed 225 inmates, a majority of them who cannot even eat themselves,” he said.

“Sometimes, hospitals send us patients having maggots in their wounds. We look after them too. Even those roaming on streets and others who are left abandoned in hospitals are left with us. I never say no to anyone,” he says.

At present, the ashram facing a fund crunch and needs roughly Rs 30,000-40,000 daily to run the affairs. “We have not paid salary to the teachers for the past two months. If this continues, we may have to close the ashram soon,” he said.

The government should direct the Health Department to send a team of doctors every week to check the inmates and provide them treatment.

Patiala SDM Charanjit Singh said he would ask the Sanaur Executive Officer to visit the ashram and ensure that food and other essential items were supplied. “We will also take care of their sanitisation needs,” he added.

Aman Sood (Tribune News Service)
Patiala, April 2

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