'Clothes are taken care of, why not shoes?'

New delhi: Now that laundry services and other services to maintain people's clothes are in full swing at the Singhu farmers' protest, shoe polishing services have started here as well.

Ajit Pal Singh, who traveled on foot from his village in Punjab's Anandpur Sahib to Singhu Border said that the initiative was started after he saw many people having dirty or broken shoes. "We in our Sikh community believe in seva (service). Our farmers are protesting here since November and they have facilities for their clothes but nothing for the shoes," he said while polishing a pair of shoes.

Millennium Post saw a huge crowd in front of Singh who had come to get their shoes shined or repaired. "The services were started on Sunday and will continue. My arm was aching as I had polished so many shoes on Sunday and I was skeptical of continuing it on Monday as well. But when I saw my elderly men and women protesters, I got the inspiration to not stop," he added.

He along with his friend started the initiative but were joined by strangers. "Our brother here joined us today to polish the shoes," he said as more people started coming in.

Ajit Pal Singh, on the other hand, started his journey from his village on 20 December 2020 to reach the protest site. "We were a group of 17 people, including my wife and children and we reached Singhu on foot. It took us 12 days to reach here," he added.

A few protesters who had come to get their shoes repaired thanked Ajit for his services. "This love motivates me further," he added.