A HOME FOR ONE AND ALL
“PEOPLE WANT TO HELP, BUT ARE AFRAID OF TAKING RESPONSIBILITY. SO WE SET UP APNA GHAR”
BM. Bhardwaj and Dr Madhuri Bhardwaj set up Apna Ghar Ashram in 2000. Friends since school and now spouses, they both had the same dream—to help the destitute and needy. Armed with degrees in homoeopathy, the two have devoted their lives to the rehabilitation of the abandoned. In his youth, Bhardwaj had been moved by the death of a local milkman in his village in Aligarh who, because of lack of dedicated full-time caretakers, passed away after an injury. “People want to help but are afraid of taking responsibility, so we set up Apna Ghar,” says Bhardwaj. Apna Ghar’s journey began after the Bhardwajs took in a group of abandoned people they came across at hospitals, bus stands and railway stations. Soon, 23 persons were living with them in a 400 sq feet space. Today, 42 organisations and a dozen states send people, between the ages of 18 and 60, who have nowhere to go to Apna Ghar. Apart from their main centre, in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, there are 31 chapters, including one in Nepal. The Bharatpur facility currently houses 3,100 persons and there are about 3,300 being sheltered in other branches. According to Bhardwaj, Apna Ghar has successfully treated and rehabilitated 21,000 persons till now. They also take care of abandoned and injured animals and birds. Running the Bharatpur centre alone requires a staff of 200. They have 23 ambulances operational at a cost of around Rs 30 crore a year. They recently received Rs 12 crore from the Azim Premji Foundation to be used over three years. Apna Ghar accepts donations of all sizes, but some of their big donors are Shri Sita Ram Foundation, and Ram Kumar Beniwal, who paid their entire debt of Rs 70 lakh taken to built their first building. Apna Ghar centres keep the police and local authorities in the loop about the persons in their care. Many in their care also have mental health issues. The government recently set up a primary health centre next to their Bharatpur centre with an operation theatre, an intensive care unit, eight doctors who volunteer to visit daily and 10 psychiatrists from around the world who hold teleconferences with patients. Recently, they had a pregnant woman in their care, who weighed 35 kg and was allegedly sexually assaulted. They have a system in place to take care of expecting mothers in such cases, to keep them healthy and ensure safe delivery. Apna Ghar has also started an elementary school for 90 children who live with destitute mothers. Every evening, Apna Ghar has a little dance party for its residents. “It is the small things that add to their happiness and well-being,” says Bhardwaj. The centres also hold weddings. A Kashmiri woman, abandoned by her relatives after the death of her parents, was recently married into a Muslim family. She is not the first. Two other girls with mental health issues, were nursed by Apna Ghar which then also found good matches for both.