JOIN USNGO uses unique way to keep destitutes safe
After a fire at their rescue centre a few months ago, some good samaritans have devised a unique way to keep the elderly, mentally-challenged and destitutes safe by etching tattoos on their arms with relevant details. Thinking they can get help in case they are lost.
The information, which the organisation calls the ‘file’, includes the person’s name and NGO’s mobile number.
The Earth Saviour’s Foundation, started in 2008, has been giving succour to nearly 200 people of which 65 are women at their rescue center near Rangpuri Pahari in Vasant Kunj.
A destitute, Raj Kumar, was brought to this centre by a woman from outside the Safdarjung Hospital. “I have been taken good care of here,” he said. Asked about the tattoo on his arm, he said, “Those who want can get it done on their arms.”
Mandatory practice
Another 60-year-old inhabitant who was brought here from Kerala said that it is mandatory for everyone to get it made on their arms.
“My husband died in a road accident and my friend brought me to this centre. Everybody who lives here has to get a tattoo made,” she said.
The NGO provides food, clothing and housing facilities to these people. “We don’t charge anything from them or their relatives or families,” said Ravi Kalra, founder-president of the Earth Saviour’s Foundation.
“Some 25 people went missing after the last year’s fire so we came up with the idea of etching NGO’s phone number on their arms,” Kalra told Deccan Herald. “Infact it’s my mobile number. The idea is if someone is lost one can at least call on the number so that we can go and get him,” he added.
“We get people who can’t even remember their names.” He said that if anyone comes across a mentally disabled person, contact him on 0981817169509818171695. When Deccan Herald called on the number nobody answered the call, but after a few seconds Kalra called back.
A 71-year-old occupant who came to Delhi in 1971 ended up at the rescue centre some time ago. “I came to Delhi in search of job. I don’t know where my family is,” said Dilip Kumar.
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