Rohit Shishodia
The lockdown imposed by the government in Delhi due to corona virus is giving a hard time to the vulnerable population, including beggars. The beggars, who were dependent for food on donors in earlier days, are now left without food due to lockdown and they don’t know when they would get the food.

The situation has become more complex for handicapped beggars whose homes are far away from main locations of the national capital and feeding them during lockdown is not convenient for the food donors. The food donors are providing food on the streets and some prominent locations of Delhi but they too cannot reach the huts where these beggars stay.   

Ashok Ram, a physically challenged beggar, living in the floodplain of Yamuna in East Delhi, came to Kotla village riding his tricycle for getting pulses, rice and other food items from a shopkeeper who had promised to donate the same on April 3, 2020, but the shop was closed and he was told to come in the evening.

He went from pillar to post for the food in the scorching heat but all shops were shut and he did not get the food. This disappointed him and he started looking for food somewhere else but he was not aware of the spots from where he can get the food for himself and his family that includes his wife and three children.

He said that he is aware of the lockdown but he often gets food from donors in different locations near Yamuna floodplain. He said his children were hungry since the morning.