New Delhi: Salma, 30, has been lodged at the Delhi government school in Sarai Kale Khan for the past five days. The school is one of the many that has been converted into a shelter home for migrants and the homeless in the city following the imposition of the nationwide lockdown on 24 March.
Salma, however, is no migrant nor is she homeless.
She used to live with her mother and four children in a small home in Nizamuddin’s Dildar Nagar but was picked up and brought to the school on the evening of 9 April.
“I took three of my children out for a walk, the police suddenly caught hold of us and brought us with them,” Salma told ThePrint. While the three children are with Salma, she has been separated from her youngest — a four-year-old who is back home.
“I haven’t seen him in five days; he is with my mother but must be crying endlessly without me,” she added. “I just want to go back.”
Like Salma, there are 97 others who have been kept at the Government Boys Secondary School, most of whom are not migrants or homeless people.
“I was out with my husband and two-year-old daughter at the Mirza Ghalib park on the night of Shab-e-Barat. Some men came, promised us some ration and brought us here. We have been here for five days now,” Afsana Khan told ThePrint.
“Hardly 10 per cent of those who have been brought here are migrants; the rest are just those who violated the lockdown,” an official stationed at the school told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
“We are trying to release all the people who have been brought in from nearby localities, so that they can go back to their families without violating the lockdown,” Ravinder Mehra, executive magistrate of defence colony division (under which the school falls) told ThePrint. “The police brought them in, but when we realised they are not migrants or homeless, we decided to let them go.”
The Delhi Police, however, said it is only picking up people found loitering on the streets.
“If we find these people loitering on the streets, or migrant labourers heading home, we bring them to these shelter homes,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) R.P. Meena told ThePrint. “If there are some specific cases of families being separated, we will look into it.”
He added that any error by an official will be investigated.
Also read: Can BCG vaccine protect against Covid-19? Here’s why the excitement needs to be tempered
‘Roadside romeos to be reined in’
It isn’t just the school, even the grand Yamuna Sports Complex, which has been converted into a shelter home, houses some of those who have violated the lockdown.
The complex has around 300 migrants and homeless but at least 10-15 people brought in every day are alleged violators of the lockdown. Officials, however, said they are released that very day after “a stern warning”.
“These are roadside romeos who go about walking in the streets despite having a home to stay in. They are brought in by the police, and are asked about their address and other details,” Lalit Goyal, deputy divisional warden of Delhi Civil Defence and in-charge of the Yamuna Sports Complex shelter home, told ThePrint.
Among those that ThePrint found Monday was Sanjay Kumar, 31, who is an autorickshaw driver. Kumar said that he and two of his friends were having tea about five kilometres from the sports complex, when some police officials allegedly caught hold of them and told them they will be tested for the coronavirus.
“They said we will be given ration and will also be tested for coronavirus. We were told we would be let go in just 10 minutes, but we have been here since 9 am,” Kumar said.
Kumar and his friend were finally released after being kept at the complex for seven hours.
They were made to sign a document apologising for violating the lockdown, and saying that they won’t repeat the mistake.
“They see that if they don’t cooperate and give all their details, they will be forced to stay here,” Goyal said. “So once someone from their family comes to take them, we let them go with a warning.”
Also read: Waiting for food, dodging cops — ragpickers in Lucknow slum live on crumbs, no water
Growing restlessness
The Yamuna Sports Complex provides meals three times a day, along with medical facilities and sanitised washrooms. And yet, many people who have brought in for violating the lockdown grow restless for being kept here.
“There are two reasons — one, they feel a sense of loss of freedom. Second, many of them are also into beedis, and all those things are strictly banned here, so they become very restless,” Goyal said.
Some, though, have eventually taken to the environment.
Sudhir Kumar, 28, a labourer was picked up by the police officials from Delhi’s Kailash Nagar for walking on the streets on 1 April.
“I was sitting outside on a bench near my home when the police brought me here,” he said. After days of initial discomfort at being kept here, Kumar said he is getting used to the place. “We get food here, so I guess it’s okay for now. But I would like to go home once things get better,” he added.
Sir i am in delhi, gaffar manzil,near jamia millia . I came here in delhi due to lockdown i stuck in delhi.i am staying with one of my friend but currently i am facing problem for food and shelter.they are having money problem and they want me to leave there home.i have to leave home but i dont have another place to stay.can you people help me for food and shelter.
9170467416