New Delhi, Nov 10: As the air pollution is worsening in Delhi the residents of the city prefer to stay indoors and take precautions like using air purifiers. But, there are many people who are forced to live on the streets and they have no means to escape the grave dangers of the alarming air pollution. The homeless on the streets of Delhi face the serious risk of health hazards due to air pollution and they have nowhere to go. In such a scenario, the kind gesture of a Delhi man has set an example for all.
Sikander Behl, a social worker and a young politician, leads a team of volunteers who distribute food packages, masks, and winter clothes to the homeless on the streets of Delhi. Behl, along with his volunteers, often distributes face masks, food packets, and blankets during the winter season to the poor people outside AIIMS, Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, Connaught Place, and many other areas.
They also organize social get-togethers to attract young volunteers to join their mission. This helps them to extend their reach of serving the needy.
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What started as a one-man initiative by Behl during the Covid-19 crisis has now become a concerted effort to help the poor and homeless with many volunteers joining him. Behl wants to prepare a group of volunteers who can extend the help to the needy at any time.
Like many others, 27-year-old Sikander Behl, also came out on the streets of Delhi to help the homeless providing them with food during the pandemic. Since then, he has made the necessary moves as part of his daily routine.
Sikander Behl is frequently seen distributing food packages from his car near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The help, he says, is extended to those waiting outside the campus during the night hours for the next day’s appointment with doctors.
“Since my childhood I have been taking the same route back home, watching people waiting for their next day’s appointments with the doctors at AIIMS. We started showing this gesture of love during the COVID lockdown, and since these people have become a part of my family,” Sikander Behl says.
The effort has grown since then and a few more volunteers have joined him in his cause. A group of volunteers work tirelessly to help the poor. The volunteers engage in work like taking distress calls and mapping locations to help the homeless.
Behl’s efforts have led to extending help to the homeless on many occasions. The group’s aim is to reach out to extremely needy people and feed them.
“I and my friend, family, and office staff try to cover other areas too,” says Sikander adding that “most of them here (at AIIMS) are not from Delhi. Many of them come from the far-flung areas of the country. What attracts me is the little smile on their faces showing belief that they are not alone in their fight to give the best of medical treatment to their kin.”
Behl, however, plans to expand and reach out to more and more people. The group has been focusing on large personal programs and initiatives. Even during their social get-together, there’s always an attempt to form a larger group of young volunteers who can be ready to step in as and when needed.
He doesn’t promote his work or seek donations. Behl believes in reaching out to the poor on his own and uplifting the lives of homeless people as much as he can.
What Behl is doing could be an example for all in the national capital. All it takes is a tad bit of magnanimity and empathy towards the poor. Let’s hope this kind gesture of Behl is replicated by others and more volunteers join him in his charity efforts.
