Free Shelter and Nursing Home for the Destitute and Disabled

Free Shelter and Nursing Home for the Destitute and Disabled near village Sarabha (Punjab)

By Jasjit Kaur who visited the Ashram in April 2016

BASE OF THE PROJECT: Seva (selfless service) and Sarbat da Bhala (blessings for everyone) are the basic principles of this Project. Rendering Seva for the benefit of others in distress irrespective of cast, creed and religion expands horizons, builds positive visibility and awareness of the Sikh faith. Based on these principles of Sikhism, FREE SERVICE is being provided to the poorest of the poor for the last eleven years by this charitable Ashram.

BUILDING OF ASHRAM: Guru Amar Das Apahaj Ashram is a non-profit and non-political charity registered in August 2005. Langar, shelter, and nursing care is provided to all persons FREE OF COST living in the Ashram. Dr. Naurang Singh Mangat, founder of Guru Amar Das Apahaj Ashram, purchased land near village Sarabha of district Ludhiana, Punjab and started with kerosene lamp (for light) and kerosene stove (for cooking) in a mudroom, and built a well-equipped Ashram for the needy. Since 2011, nearly 100 needy people have been admitted to the Ashram, with more than 30 living in the Ashram permanently. After treatment, many have been rehabilitated and able to find their footing again in life. The number of patients arriving at the Ashram is increasing every month. They belong to different religions from different states of India. Most of the patients are either mentally challenged who cannot reveal their whereabouts or they are old, disabled, blind, paralysed, bedridden, or critically sick.


(Left) Kerosene lamp for light and stove for cooking and (Right) Mudroom constructed in April 2009

Dr.Mangat (118K)

THE FOUNDER OF THE ASHRAM: Dr. Naurang Singh Mangat was born in village Jatana near Doraha (Punjab). He is a former Professor and Scientist of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, University of Windsor (Canada), and Morrison Scientific Inc. Calgary (Canada) and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society of London (UK). Dr. Mangat has published more than 60 research papers in Statistics and related fields in world famous journals and co-authored the internationally used textbook "Elements of Survey Sampling" published by Kluwer Academic Publishers based in Dordrecht (Netherlands), London (UK) and Boston (USA); now owned by Springer -Verlag Publishers of Germany.

THE BEGINNING OF SEVA: Dr. Mangat personally supported education of hundreds of underprivileged students in Punjab during his working days. He sacrificed comforts of Canada and returned to India in 2005 to look after the homeless, terminally ill, disabled, and mentally challenged persons lying on the roadsides and at other public places in Punjab. For many years he pedaled his bicycle on the roads of Ludhiana city and saved the lives of homeless disabled individuals who were crying for help. Dr. Mangat ensured their safe transport to the hospital, paid for their treatment expenses, and stayed near their bedside to look after them. Once they were given treatment, these individuals had nowhere else to go; Dr. Mangat was left to leave them on the roadside again after they were discharged from the hospital. Thus, Dr. Mangat, with the help of Guru Sangat, opened a free Shelter and nursing home called "Guru Amar Das Apahaj Ashram" for the destitute and disabled.

Dr. Mangat picking up sick homeless from roadside

DAILY SEVA: Daily seva begins with prayer in the presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The Ashram is equipped with solar power, security cameras, and sound system. The whole property is in the name of the Charity. Dr. Mangat and other Board Members care for these patients as volunteers. Peaceful, inspiring and unpolluted environment at the Ashram make a long term difference for these patients.


**(Left) Daily seva begins with prayer (Right) Building of Guru Amar Das Apahaj Ashram**

EVERYTHING FREE OF COST: All patients living in the Ashram are provided food, clothes, medical treatment, nursing care and other necessities of life FREE OF COST. A doctor on site examines them regularly. Those who can answer the call of nature at their own are kept in the two halls inside the main building. The bedridden and mentally challenged patients unable to answer the call of nature at their own are kept in the shed (outside the main building) where there is adequate crossing of fresh air. On completion of two more floors, the Ashram will be catering to hundreds of such needy people in the future.


(Left) Dr. Jai Kamal examining patient and (Right) Volunteers bathing the disabled patient


(Left) Patients in Hall 1 and (Right) Extremely critical patients in the shed

FUTURE NEEDS:

(1) As most of the patients living in the Ashram are mentally challenged, paralysed, disabled, infirm and bedridden, it is very difficult to carry them to a hospital. A small hospital is the need of the hour so that the basic medical treatment is provided at the Ashram.
(2) To look after the increasing number of such needy patients the remaining two storeys of the Ashram need to be completed at the earliest.
(3) Separate building for the ladies is also an urgent requirement. These strenuous and uphill tasks can be accomplished with the blessings and generosity of Guru Sangat.
please contact Dr. Mangat at [email protected], or
visit www.apahajashram.org
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www.facebook.com/Guru-Amar-Das-Apahaj-Ashram-487373268061404/

For more information or for any questions,

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