South Auckland, particularly Papatoetoe and Manukau, has been kept safe by voluntary community patrol called the Indian Wardens for a few years now.
The group, which is founded by Rana Judge, manager of Otara Business Association and Papatoetoe Mainstreet, is part of an NGO named NZ Council of Sikh Affairs. It is currently made up of 15 individuals who patrol during business hours, assisting business owners and shoppers in the area and reporting suspicious behaviour to the Police and aims to give back to the community.
The group has been recently received a car donated by Jagjeet Singh Sidhu of Papatoetoe-based immigration consultancy, Immigration Matters, and Khushy Watson of car dealer NZ Cars to help them work better.
Talking about the same, Rana says, “The main aim of our organisation and Indian Wardens is to help and serve the community as much as we can. We work in many areas such as crime watch, providing JP services, helping the victims of domestic violence, and taking needy people to the hospital.
“Usually, our wardens would take up public transport or their own personal car for the same, but now with this car being donated, we will be able to serve the community even better. I can’t thank Jagjeet and Khushy enough for the same.”
Sharing the same sentiment, Karnail Singh, mentor of Indian Wardens as well as a JP himself, says, "With this car coming in the organisation, we will be able to help the wider community. I think it is great and helps us achieve our mission of helping the community even better.”
Moving on, Jageet feels that he thought there was a need for a car to help Indian Wardens motivated him to give the car.
He says, “As I see our elders contributing to the community as Indian Wardens by patrolling our streets, helping other elders taking to doctors and WINZ and other appointments. I thought it was better to provide a vehicle to them to have better movability. They are our heroes and are doing great for the community.”
Khushy says, “Donations are part of life, and I feel proud to be able to donate a vehicle for our community and be able to do my bit for the community wardens who work so hard for us.”