Hindu Refugee Camp Adarshnagar, New Delhi

Over 300 Hindu Refugee families from Pakistan have taken shelter at the Hindu Refugee Camp, Adarshnagar, New Delhi and are living in adverse conditions. Resettlement and adapting in a completely new place from scratch have put forth many challenges like language and communication along with struggle for basic amenities like drinking water, adequate shelter, livelihood, clean water, sanitation and hygiene, primary health care, formal education, electricity, etc.  

With very limited support from the local government life of Hindu refugees, especially the children have been subjected to several hardships. There are many individuals and private associations which are providing ad hoc support to these families. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) Japan has identified a need to establish a systematic support structure along with sustainable model. This includes setting up regular facilities for education, medication, skill development center and generating employment to make these families self-reliant. Here are some details of these initiatives which is being closely monitored in association with local team members of HSS Japan:

Set up for Remote Learning Center

Currently, Urdu is the only language that the refugee community is using for daily conversation and so for smooth communication with local community, they are being taught English and Hindi languages. This shall also enable them to pursue good education in future. Besides these, online Japanese language classes, abacus and other cultural classes with physical warm-up are being conducted on daily basis. So far, these classes are conducted utilizing the Solar power with basic provision of laptop and projector screen and by accommodating the children in small batches. While the long-term objective is to establish a full-fledged learning center, lack of electricity is a major blockage.

Medical Camps

To monitor and maintain the health of the residents at Hindu refugee Camp, regular medical camps are being arranged since last two years. This includes weekly visit by authorized Doctor along with free medicines for basic health care.

Monthly Scholarship

Due to lack of documentation, many children could not get Aadhar card and because of which they could not get an admission in nearby schools. Another volunteer group has established a make-shift school in Adarshnagar camp. To encourage regular attendance in this, make-shift school, HSS Japan is providing a monthly scholarship of 500 INR to more than 25 kids.

Enabling Self-employment

The refugees have lost everything when they were forced to flee to Bharat and are also having limited earning opportunities, though few are skilled labors. Struggle to earn livelihood is full of challenges for them. To make them self-reliant, 10 shops were sponsored and allocated to 10 families in the refugee camp which are now running well. This initiative is being reviewed on quarterly basis and efforts will be made to expand such options for other families too.

Construction of Toilets

Due to open defecation, it was utmost important to have proper sanitation facility at the Camp to maintain hygiene and safety, especially with respect to women. Considering this, project for the purchase and setup for 10 toilets was started on Janmashtami last year, out of which 5 toilets are being constructed (along with one hand-pump) at the camp and already in use by residents. Cleaning supervisors have been assigned to ensure regular maintenance and proper usage of these toilets.

Women Empowerment

Adarsh Nagar Women Empowerment (ANWE) Project has been initiated recently to utilize and enhance the skills of the young girls & women. It is very pleasing to note that some ladies in the camp are already well skilled and some of them knew stitching and knitting. Around 4 Sewing machines and other tools have been provided   so that they can utilize their skills and some ladies have already prepared beautiful bed sheets, pillow covers and other household items. Currently a plan to arrange the purchase of such items by well-wishers is under consideration. Besides this, weekly art and craft training for other women is also being conducted with an objective to enable them for producing artifacts which can be sold in the market (to generate some income for women at the camp).

Beautician training program

Along with local NGO Delhi Slum Development Federation (DSDF), HSS Japan has initiated beautician training Program on 18th Jan 2021. The Beautician training center was inaugurated in the camp by Mr. Ajay Raj Sharma, ex-commissioner of Delhi and ex-DG of BSF. This event was turned out to be a huge success with enthusiastic participation by all the families in the camp. The training classes are conducted for three hours/day for two batches of 10 girls/ladies by two certified and experienced trainers in the camp premises.

With an aim to make camp families not only self-reliant but be capable enough to support other such families who may come to Bharat in future, HSS Japan will continue to implement such projects while conducting regular review on field. By these projects, HSS Japan has created an open platform for any individual or group to join or support in whichever form they would like to. In past, various individuals from HSS Japan has distributed clothes, toys, wheat, sweets, stationary items, footballs, etc as per the needs in the camp. Those interested can contact HSS Japan Sewa team (JapanHSS@gmail.com) for further details.

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