: Reacting to a report in The Hindu , the Delhi government on Saturday extended support to Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Kanubhai Ramdas Gandhi, who is living with his wife in a home for the destitute in Delhi’s Badarpur area.
Delhi’s SC/ST Welfare and Women and Child Welfare Minister Sandeep Kumar visited the 87-year old and his wife Dr Shiva Lakshmi Gandhi (85) at the Guru Vishram Vridh Ashram - Sheows on Saturday evening. Speaking to The Hindu , the Minister said: “It was quite a heart touching moment to meet Kanubhai. I told them that the Delhi government is ready to extend any kind of help to the couple.”
Dr G.P. Bhagat, founder of the old-age home, which provides shelter to the destitute and abandoned elderly, said that the meeting lasted for about 15 minutes.
‘He likes meeting people’
“Kanubhai did not ask for anything specific. He just took the Minister’s number and said he would call him if he needs help. But he repeatedly asked Mr. Kumar to keep visiting. Actually, he likes meeting people, it makes him feel loved,” he said.
Kanubhai’s nephew Tushar Gandhi took to Twitter to react to the report by The Hindu : “In case of my uncle Kanu Gandhi. Sabarmati Ashram and Gujarat Vidyapeeth have hosted them & have offered permanent free accommodation.”
In a second tweet he wrote: “Hundreds of destitute abandoned elders live in old age homes. So what if Ba and Bapu's grandson too lives in one?”
Meanwhile, Dr. Bhagat said that the couple are not interacting much with the inmates of the home. “Both of them keep saying they want their strength to be utilised,” he added.
Speaking to The Hindu , Kanubhai who is the son of the Mahatma’s third son - Ramdas Gandhi - said, “We have so much of experience and knowledge. Here, we have no way to utilise it”.
A former NASA scientist and an MIT graduate, Kanubhai checked into the ashram on May 8. Before this they spent about a year-and-a-half in various Ashrams in Gujarat and had lived for more than four decades in the United States.
