Today, they ended the strike. The Delhi Government buckled and said it would ``reconsider'' the transfer of the two officials. This is an uncommon story. Of the people who are discarded by the society for no fault of theirs fighting to keep two officials who made a difference in their lives with kindness and compassion.

They started skipping meals when Joseph and Prasad received their transfer orders three days ago. They even locked Joseph and Prasad inside and declared they would let the officials out only if the State Welfare Minister came and listened to them. They waited on empty stomachs for three days. Today, Delhi's Social Welfare Minister Krishna Tirath drove to the Tahirpur Custodial Home.

She listened. And later toldThe Indian Express that the strike was off and the transfers were being ``reconsidered''.

Joseph came to the Home three months ago, Prasad has been there a bit longer: 10 months. ``They were transferred because they had given us the things that were meant for us. The earlier officials used to take home these things. The earlier superintendent used to cut our supplies of milk for 10 days every month, saying it had not got sanctioned. How come the new superintendent always gets the sanction?'' says Anandi Singh, an 80-year-old inmate.

Sagar said there was no truth in the allegations and blamed the officials.``The officials were willingly being held inside the home and the whole thing was staged. As for their being hungry, the cook as well as other staff were inside the home with a week's ration,'' she said.

The inmates have decided Anandi will speak for them. ``Geeta Sagar (Director Social Welfare department) did not like so much being done for the lepers. So she transferred them after a few months,''Anandi adds.

``We were born humans but these two men treated us like humans for the first time, listened to all our woes,'' Anandi says and he starts crying aloud. The others join him.

Krishna Tirath said that the officials would not be transferred if they have been wrongly transferred. ``I will be discussing it with the Social Welfare Secrertary Narendra Prasad and the director Geeta Sagar at once. If there are persons who have not been transferred for 10 or 20 years they would be considered in place of these officials,'' Tirath said.

``The earlier officials stayed on for five to 10 years. The earlier superintendent stayed for 10 years and he used to kick us when we went asking for anything: `Sale kodhi tu khana chahta hai? Tu to kodhi hi rah, he used to say,'' says Anandi

``Superintendent saheb and Dharmender babu came to us and talked to us while those before them used to turn away in revulsion. They gave us fuel to burn in the cold, blankets and socks and also replaced our small plates thatslipped out of our stumpy palms with bigger steel plates,'' Anandi says.