Man decides to stay back at Yamuna Sports Complex, enrolls as volunteer

Ajit Lochin Mishra came to Yamuna Sports Complex last month hoping to return to his native place in Jharkhand, but after seeing the condition of other migrant workers he decided to stay back and enrolled as a volunteer at the shelter home.

Ajit, 48, said that he will head back to his home in Jharkhand's Deoghar district once the situation gets better and all the workers are sent back to their destinations.

Ajit has been running a food stall at Kashmere Gate Metro station from past many years.

"The metro is closed and I have no work here post lockdown. I came to the shelter home at Yamuna Sports Complex in the second week of April, hoping to go back to my village in Deoghar. When I saw the condition of people here, my conscience didn't allow me to leave the shelter home.

"Thereafter, I decided to stay here and work as a volunteer. I will definitely go to my village but only after the situation gets normal and all the migrant workers are sent back to their native places," Ajit told PTI.

He came to Delhi four decades ago. He studied here and now lives in northeast Delhi''s Bhajanpura area.

"I participate in distributing food, ask people to come in line and constantly tell them to maintain social distance. I also try to manage any issue or problem the children are facing here. I have a wife and two kids in Deoghar and have already informed them about it," he said.

Ashish Mishra, Executive Magistrate of Shahdara district and in-charge of Yamuna Sports Complex shelter home, said that Ajit is working as a volunteer here from past 40 days.

"He is a very considerate person. He roams in the area and talks to people. If anyone has some family emergency or any other issue, he tells us and we try to send that person home as soon as possible. He also tells us about the people who need medical assistance.

"He distributes food to the migrant workers in the shelter home. He participates in housekeeping work and does not even hesitate to clean the toilet of the complex," Ashish Mishra said.