New Delhi: A proposal to turn Ajmer Dargah’s community halls and guesthouses into COVID Care Centre has been submitted by the shrine authorities to the District Collector, informed Gaddi Nashin of the Dargah, Haji Syed Salman Chishty.

As Rajasthan witnesses a ravaging surge in COVID-19 cases and increasing demand for hospital beds, Salman Chishty and Ajmer’s youth Congress president, Syed Ahsan Yasir Chishty, put forward the idea to provide support to the health care system of the state.

The proposal includes converting three community halls and two guest houses- Chishty community hall, Chishtyya guesthouse, Anjuman Moinia guesthouse, Anjuman Moinia community hall and Shaikh Yaadgar community hall- as care centres for Coronavirus patients.

Speaking to ANI, Salman Chishty said that in order to “ease the burden” on Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, the only COVID dedicated facility in Ajmer, they decided to lend more spaces to help fight the pandemic.

The district collector is yet to inspect the facility, added Chishty.

“The inspection of the community halls and guesthouses will hopefully be done by today or tomorrow,” he said.

The shrine in Rajasthan’s Ajmer is among the most important pilgrimage sites in India. It was the abode of the Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti between 1192 and 1236 AD. The Dargah is now thronged by thousands of people every day and the complex is spread over a vast area.

“These facilities can accommodate 400-500 beds. This will ease the burden on the JLN hospital Ajmer as it is the only hospital admitting COVID-19 patients. We will provide the beds and food free of cost,” Salman Chisty told ANI.

“We are currently in a lockdown and these spaces are not being utilised at all,” he added.

Rajasthan currently has 1,46,640 active COVID-19 cases, as per the official data released by Union Health Ministry.

“We do not know when this is going to end. We are hoping that it ends soon,” Chisty added.

The saint, followers beleive, cure people of their ailments and fulfill their wishes. Pilgrims from other parts of the world, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey, visit the shrine every year.

“Our intention is to serve the country during this unprecedented challenge of COVID-19. Whatever facilities we can provide, we will. This is the least we can do,” he concluded.