NEW DELHI: Harjinder Singh’s auto looks like any of the thousands on Delhi roads, till you look at its rear. Scrawled in bold red above the window is a sentence, “Free

for injured in road accident”. Singh, a 76-year-old former traffic warden, runs what is perhaps the only ‘

’ in the city.

“I cannot be omnipresent, but till my last breath, I will continue helping accident victims and provide medication to them free of cost,” says Singh. While plying his vehicle as a regular auto around Delhi, Singh has helped save hundreds of lives. On average, the septuagenarian says he helps one victim a day.

“As a traffic warden, I saw many crash victims and wanted to help them. It was only after buying an auto that I could realise this goal,” says Singh.

76-yr-old works extra hours to save for his ‘auto ambulance’

Ever since, Singh says he has worked extra hours to make some money so that he could refuel his vehicle and roam around accident-prone areas in the city. “If, god forbids, I come across any accident victim, I rush him to the nearest hospital so that his life is saved. “There has been no looking back since the first day when I was of help to someone,” he said.

The senior citizen says he has placed a donation box in his auto and does not ask his passengers for money to drop them to their destination. He uses whatever money people donate to buy medicines for accident victims, apart from giving out free diabetes medicines to anyone who asks for it.

“Earlier I didn’t have a medicine box in my vehicle nor did I know how to apply those medicines. So I took a small course to figure out what medicines could be used in emergency situations. There is no better feeling than being of help to someone,” Singh says with a smile.

What keeps him going, says Singh, is the gratitude people show after they are out of danger. “My family keeps expanding through every act of help,” says the Sikh, who lives with his elder son and his family in Bhajanpura and starts his day at 8am every day.

“Last month, I helped two brothers who were hit by a car. I was passing through the area and saw the two men bleeding. I rushed both of them to the hospital which was around 2km away. Both brothers were saved. The two are still in touch with me and give me the credit for saving their lives. There is no bigger happiness than that,” he says.

“People often ask me if I don’t have a family to take care of me. They’re wrong, because I have a very loving family. I just feel one should stay active till the time he can and this way when I am earning money, my family also respects me,” says Singh.

“People stop me when they read what is written behind my auto and ask for medicines for diabetes. I have a diary and I note down the address and phone numbers of people who reach out to me for medicines. Every day, whatever money I make, I buy medicines for half the amount. All the medicines that I buy are used the following day and not just this, since I am also an ayurvedic vaid, I advice people on what to do to better their health conditions,” says the man.

“In so many cases, people die on the road just because they don’t get timely help. People stand and look at them dying. I don’t want to be one of them,” he adds.