Category Archives: COVID 19 – Community of Soldiers

‘Police Aam’, ‘Doctor Aam’: India’s ‘Mango Man’ develops two varieties to honour corona warriors

Business & Economy, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Green Products, , , ,

Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH :

Mango growers of UP seeks institutional procurement of produce due to lockdown in the state which produces around 65 per cent of global yield of the fruit.

Haji Kalimullah Khan in his orchard (Photo | EPS)

Lucknow :

Uttar Pradesh’s Haji Kalimullah Khan, who is popularly known as India’s ‘Mango Man’, has developed two varieties of mango and has dedicated them to ‘corona warriors’ of the country.

Khan developed the two varieties of ‘dussehri’ mango and named them as ‘police aam’ and ‘doctor aam’ in the acknowledgment of their contribution to the war on deadly coronavirus.

In fact, Khan, 85, is credited with developing around 300 different sub-varieties of ‘dussehri,’ the most prominent mango variety grown in the mango belt, especially, Malihabad, 28 km from Lucknow. He has developed the new varieties by using graft technique and has got them named after prominent Bollywood and sport celebrities and political figures including PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah,, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Congress chief Sonia, Gandhi, Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan , cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and many more.

“The hard work being put to fight the pandemic in these difficult times by keeping their families behind moved me to name these two varieties after ‘doctor’ and ‘police’ personnel,” said Khan.

Sharing more details about the new varieties, Khan said he was waiting for the varieties to ripe in his orchard and hopefully they would be ready for plucking next month.

However, Khan could not hide his concern for the market prospects of dussehri given the persistent restrictions in the domestic and export market following the lockdown. In fact, by this time of the year, mango growers of UP, which produces around 65 per cent of global yield of the fruit, finalise sales contracts for the season with the traders and exporters. But this year, the process has not taken off yet due to the COVID -19 lockdown.

Meanwhile, the mango growers have sought institutional procurement of the crop as they have not been able to sell the produce in the open market due to restrictions.

In UP, mango is produced in an area of 2.5 lakh hectares. Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Bulandshahar, Saharanpur, Faizabad, Varanasi, Moradabad, Barabanki, Meerut, Unnao, Sitapur, Hardoi, Gorakhpur, Basti, JP Nagar and Mathura are the major mango producing belts in the state.

Popular varieties like chausa, dusheri, fazli, gulab khas, langra, mallika and amrapali are produced in the state. With the prices of ready mango varieties — alphonso and kesar — dwindling due to the lockdown, the growers of dussehri have knocked at the doors of the state government for relief.

In a letter to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Mango Growers Association of India has demanded a slew of urgent measures to protect state mango farmers, on the lines of growers of alphonso and kesar varieties, which are primarily grown in Maharashtra and Gujarat, respectively, from economic losses.

“Alphonso, which normally sells at Rs 1,500 a dozen, is currently selling at Rs 400-500 a dozen this year, owing to the slump in domestic and export demand. Even transportation of the fruit to the market is also a major issue,” said Insram Ali, Association president. He said kesar farmers were suffering. “Kesar sale peaks in April. But, consignments are not reaching big markets, such as Delhi, and thus incurring losses to
growers,” he added.

Moreover, the loss to the crop due to unpredictable weather has also increased the plight of the mango growers. According to Ali, UP’s mango production, which is dominated by dussehri with an 80 per cent share, is estimated at almost 3.5 million tonnes (MT), down 12.5 per cent compared to last year’s yield of over 4 MT. UP exports mango to the Gulf countries including Iran, United Arab of Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bangladesh besides, US and Europe.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Namita Bajpai / Express News Service / May 07th, 2020

Jharkhand: Muslim youth breaks fast to donate blood to ailing Hindu boy

Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers,

Ranchi , JHARKHAND :

Ansari said that the moment he got to know that the child needed blood, he decided to save his life and left for Hazaribagh along with two others.

Image for representational purpose only. (Photo | EPS)

Ranchi :

Amid hate messages on social media, a Muslim youth set an example for humanity by breaking his ‘Roza’ (fasting) to donate blood for an 8-year-old Hindu child who is suffering from Pneumonia in Hazaribagh on Tuesday.

Salim Ansari travelled over 50 km to donate blood after he got to know that the boy of his village needed blood to save his life.

The child Nikhil Kumar, suffering from pneumonia, is undergoing treatment at a nursing home in Hazaribagh and needed blood for his treatment.

When Ansari reached the hospital, doctors advised him to break his fast and eat something to be able to donate blood. Ansari immediately agreed to the doctor’s suggestion and donated blood.

“It does not mean that I have done any favour to anybody, Being a human being, it was my duty to save the life of the child,” said Ansari. No religion is
above humanity, he added.

Ansari said that the moment he got to know that the child needed blood, he decided to save his life and left for Hazaribagh along with two others.

According to Nikhil’s brother Faljeet Kumar, his brother is currently admitted to a private nursing home in Hazaribagh and urgently required A (+Ve) blood but he was not able to arrange it. The local blood bank also expressed its inability for the same due to the lockdown asking him to arrange on his own.

Even Faljeet could donate as he had already donated the blood to his brother last week. Losing all hopes, he called his father Bhikhari Mahto at his village Kusumraza under the Bagodar Block of Giridih and explained the entire situation. Bhikhari Mahto, a farmer by profession, further discussed the matter with other villagers and left the matter on the mercy of God.

Later, when Ansari got to know about it, he decided to save the life of the child by donating his blood and left for Hazaribagh. He was even intercepted by police at different places, but somehow he managed to convince them citing the urgency of the situation and reached there to save the life of the child.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Mukesh Ranjan / Express News Service / May 06th, 2020

Muslim groups lead efforts in fighting COVID-19 lockdown crisis in BJP-ruled Gujarat

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, FREE : Healthcare / Assistance, Useful / HEALTHCARE, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GUJARAT :

Babubhai (extreme right, with crutches) distributing ration kits to the differently-abled

Amid the ongoing nationwide battle against COVID-19 and the crisis created by the lockdown, Muslim groups in communally sensitive Gujarat have lent a helping hand to the administration, and aided scores, MAHESH TRIVEDI reports.

Gujarat :

As the coronavirus cases in BJP-ruled Gujarat spiralled to 3,548 and killed 162 people by April 29, the Muslim community of the state and voluntary organizations run by them have been silently lending a helping hand to the beleaguered state administration in fighting the deadly virus.

Muslims constitute 10 per cent of the population in this communally sensitive western Indian state. In spite of being a hard-pressed minority and having faced an anti-Muslim pogrom in 2002, the community has brushed aside its sorry state and in current pandemic has worked to bring relief to poor people of the state.

In Ahmedabad, a voluntary organization Vikalang Sahayak Kendra run by differently-abled Ghulam Murtaza (Babubhai) has not only distributed nearly 500 kits containing rice, sugar, wheat flour, edible oil, etc to widows, slum-dwellers and physically-challenged men and women but also has been providing meals once a day to homeless, besides guiding them on personal hygiene during the pandemic.

“It won’t be possible to give succour to the have-nots without financial assistance from generous donors from both Hindu and Muslim communities like Shankar Patel, Talha Sareshwala, Hanif Memon, Mohsin Memon, Akhtar Malik, Raju Patel, Ankur Patel, Ankit Patel, etc,” Babubhai told TwoCircles.net.      

Medical check-up in a BMDA medical van

Other Muslims organizations like School of Education Campus, Chhipa Samast Jamaat, Anjuman-e-Saifee Jamaat, Qaswa Charitable Trust (Bhuj), etc have distributed hundreds of food and grains packets to needy in the ongoing lockdown.

At one of India’s largest Muslim ghetto on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in Juhapura, housing nearly 400,000 people, Muslim youth belonging to Ahmed Shah Army, an NGO took it upon themselves to sanitizing 30,000-odd houses.

Besides sanitizing the houses, the Muslim youth did not hesitate in providing free hair cuts to beggars – at least 180 of them, who had been lodged in a hostel by local authorities in Valsad in south Gujarat. The Muslim youth from the NGO also handed over two pairs of clothes to the beggar community.

Zuber Gopalani (extreme left) and BMDA members gifting PPE kits to a municipal doctor

In Vadodara, the citizens remember a benevolent Muslim auto driver Ali Hussain Udawala, who has been ferrying passengers to hospital during the lockdown without charging any fare.

Riddhi Soni, a 28-year-old visually-challenged college teacher at Rajpipla in south Gujarat, lives alone in the staff quarters and could not go back to her parents in Ahmedabad because of the shutdown. It was her neighbour and colleague Numa Ansari (26) who has come to her aid in the current lockdown.

Soni told TwoCircles.net that Ansari has always remained at her beck and call, sanitized her room, bought essentials for her, and took care of her.

With the shortage of isolation units in municipal-run hospitals in Ahmedabad to house the increasing number of suspected cases of COVID-19, Issa Foundation, which has already been running community kitchens, offered its three buildings as quarantine facilities with 1,200 beds and also offered to bear food expenses of patients and medicos.

In Baroda, where the services provided by the 300-member Baroda Muslim Doctors’ Association (BMDA), headed by chairperson Dr Muhammed Husain is earning them laurels.

BMDA chief Muhammed Husain prescribing medicines to a senior citizen

Ever since the government enforced the lockdown, BMDA has organized free medical camps, launched blood donation campaigns, and joined hands with the Vadodara municipal corporation in preventive and curative interventions to boost its anti-virus drive.

Husain told TwoCircles.net that 150 dedicated doctors of the association have been risking their lives by conducting door-to-door surveillance in COVID-hit areas declared as ‘danger zones’ in the cultural city.

Ever since BMDA was set up in 2012, the association, besides organizing events for medicos, has also been carrying out a number of social activities for the underprivileged to bring the marginalized into the mainstream.

BMDA has done this by promoting academic scholars, helping high-school drop-outs to join skill-based learning, starting reading rooms in slums and semi slums, free malnutrition check-ups and so on.

According to Zuber Gopalani, famed social activist and educationist, BMDA’s biggest achievement came recently when an expert group from the federal government lauded the invaluable services rendered by the doctors and paramedics of the association at an ideal COVID-care centre at the Ebrahim Bawany ITI Hostel in Vadodara.

“BMDA medicos threw their full heart and soul into this COVID care centre while working with the civic body’s health team, regularly examining the patients’ blood sugar, blood pressure, temperature, etc and monitored their hygiene and sanitation. The result was that for the first time in India as many as 45 COVID-19 patients were completely cured within 10 days and discharged together from one single care centre”, Gopalani said.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Indian Muslim> Lead Story> Pandemic / by Mahesh Trivedi for Twocircles.net / April 30th, 2020

Mumbai based Muslim Engineer’s initiative to manufacture PPE’s bear results, 50,000 made in 3 states

Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Science & Technology, ,

Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Mumbai:

Humza Shaikh is an engineer by profession but the current healthcare crisis in India due to COVID-19 pandemic inspired him to manufacture Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the dire need of which is seen all across the country.

With his start-up CHMI Indobionics started in 2017, Shaikh came up with the initiative to manufacture PPE’s by engaging around 4000 skilled and 1000 unskilled migrant labourers in the manufacturing process.

After it’s certification, the team started its first batch of production on 25 March.

“By the end of April, we finished the production of 50,000 PPE’s at our leased out manufacturing plants in Bombay, Kolkata and Bangalore,” Shaikh told TwoCircles.net.

Seeing the health care crisis across India, the team also ventured into making ventilators, which is under clinical trial. “We are planned to launch it soon after the certification process is over,” Shaikh said.

Shaikh claimed that its a unique ICU ventilator with all the required specifications. “It is an invasive product which works in coherence with the human body. The cost of this ventilator is between 1.5 to 2 lakh rupees which is comparatively very less than the traditional ventilator which costs 10-15 lakhs,” he said.

According to Shaikh, most of the labourers working with them were taken out of the rehabilitation camps and been provided with lodging and boarding facilities.

“We have ensured their safety and meals are provided and proper care is being taken with the implementation of social distancing norms and hygienic sanitation facilities,” he said.

The team led by Shaikh, have been catering to Sai Hospital and Municipal Hospital in Bombay, Rashtra Chemical Fertilisers in Ali Bagh and Indian Army in Guwahati.

The team has also been working with West Bengal government to provide them PPE’s and look forward to work with the states of Orissa and Karnataka.

The project which includes the collaboration of 3 start-ups is incubated in the central universities across India including the IIM’s and IIT’s. The project is funded by the science and technology department, Government of India and further aims to work constructively amid pandemic.

source: http://www.twocircles.net / Twocircles.net / Home > Indian Muslim> Lead Story> Pandemic – TCN Positive / by Mushira Ashraf / May 03rd, 2020

Valsad man spends Rs 1 cr to buy ration kits for the poor

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, FREE : Food, Science & Technology,

Dungri Falia -Vapi (Valsad District) GUJARAT :

Every day at 9.00 am, three trucks loaded with ration kits leaves Khan’s godown to distribute ration kits to the villagers. These vehicles have essential pass provided by the local administration.

Narsulla Khan has supplied over 21,000 ration kits. (Express Photo)

A 40-year-old businessman from Valsad district has spent Rs 1.10 crore in more than a month to distribute ration kits to poor families in 35 villages in the district. Narsulla Khan who runs an electric panel manufacturing unit in Vapi GIDC has till date supplied over 21,000 ration kits.

Khan, a resident of Dungri falia in Vapi, began distributing the kits on March 27. He created a team of 70 people which included sarpanch of the 35 villages. Khan procured grocery items from wholesale traders in Valsad, Vapi, Navsari and Surat and the team helped put together the kits.

Every day at 9.00 am, three trucks loaded with ration kits leaves Khan’s godown to distribute ration kits to the villagers. These vehicles have essential pass provided by the local administration.

The kit comprises 10 kg rice, 5 kg wheat flour, 2 kg Tuver daal, 3 kg potato, 3 kg onion, 1 kg oil and 1 kg salt.

“The sarpanches and the team have the list of people who need help. So far we have covered or 35 villages and delivered 21,000 kits. I know what it feels like to sleep empty stomach. My father worked very hard to provide for us. By God’s grace, we have enough now. SO, I thought why not help the poor people during lockdown,” Khan said.

“We will continue supplying kits till the lockdown is lifted. The district administrations and even the police of Vapi have our numbers and they call us whenever anybody needs help,” he added.

Vapi taluka Mota Ponda village sarpanch Dhriubhai Ahir said, “The group helps whenever the delivery truck gets stuck anywhere or stopped by the police. Khan does not go out to deliver kits, it is distributed by his volunteers and sarpanches.”

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> India / by Kamaal Saiyed / Surat – May 01st, 2020

COVID-19: Indian doctor in UAE overwhelmed as policeman salutes her for her service

Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, NRI's / PIO's, Science & Technology, World Opinion, , ,

Hyderabad, TELANGANA / Dubai, U A E :

Ayesha Sultana, who is from Hyderabad, was returning home on Tuesday night after completing her shift at the Al Ahli Screening centre in Dubai when she was stopped by a policeman.

For representational purpose. (Photo | EPS)

Dubai :

An Indian doctor in the UAE was moved to tears after her car was stopped during curfew hours and a policeman, instead of checking her documents, gave a salute, acknowledging her service during the coronavirus pandemic, according to media reports.

Ayesha Sultana, who is from Hyderabad, was returning home on Tuesday night after completing her shift at the Al Ahli Screening centre in Dubai when she was stopped by a policeman at the Dubai-Sharjah highway, the Khaleej Times reported.

Sultana said that she did panic initially but was focused on showing her work permit and other documents to prove that she was a doctor.

According to a report in the Gulf News, Sultana said she was pulling her ID and papers to show to the policeman but “he saluted me, saying I don’t need to show him anything.”

“I was speechless and cried. Despite (the fact that) I was tired (after) work but this salute was my reward and waived my tiredness,” she said.

“I was full of emotions at that moment and didn’t know what to do. I wish I knew his name or face as he was wearing (a) mask. I just want to thank him,” she was quoted as saying in the Gulf News report.

The doctor later tweeted: “As a UAE resident, this is the biggest day of my life THANKYOU.”

“Had tears in my eyes. I’m blessed to be in the UAE and serve the people here,” she tweeted.

Sultana, who was born and brought up in the UAE, said she did not expect she would be dealing with a pandemic when she passed out of the Dubai Medical College in February, the Khaleej Times reported.

“This is my home and I want to do my best in helping UAE fight the pandemic. We see around 200 to 300 people every day – both with and without symptoms. It is very rewarding and I am all the more committed to continue doing my job,” she said.

According to the Johns Hopkins University data, the UAE has over 11,000 COVID-19 cases with 89 deaths.

UAE had been under an overnight curfew since March 26 to stem the spread of the deadly disease.

Dubai had on April 4 imposed a two-week lockdown to contain the virus.

source : http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> World / by PTI / April 30th, 2020

Sanitary inspector in Avadi Corporation raises awareness on COVID-19 through songs

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, , ,

Avadi, Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

M. Abdul Jaffar, sanitary inspector in Avadi Municipal Corporation spreads awareness on nCOVID-19 through songs set to popular film tunes   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

M. Abdul Jaffar has created five songs so far, on how COVID-19 spreads and the need for physical distancing, among other aspects

A sanitary inspector’s penchant for singing and poetry has come in handy now, to create awareness on critical social issues. M. Abdul Jaffar, a sanitary inspector with the Avadi Municipal Corporation has recently penned lyrics and sung songs set to popular film tunes, to raise awareness about COVID-19.

It all started two years ago, when he decided to use his hobby of amateur singing on social media to convey messages about environmental and health issues.

Amidst his work schedule during the pandemic, Mr. Jaffar finds time to create awareness songs on COVID-19. He pens lyrics in simple words and sets them to popular Tamil film tunes to reach out to residents on precautionary measures to be taken. In one of the songs released on social media, he cautioned people against violating section 144 and urged them to stay at home and keep COVID-19 at bay.

“I have created five awareness songs so far on how COVID-19 spreads, the need for physical distancing and how to protect ourselves from the pandemic. I usually share it among the officials and the Tamil Nadu sanitary inspectors association,” said Mr. Jaffar.

He now sings the songs as part of the awareness campaign against COVID-19 in Avadi. “Singing helps to attract people’s attention towards the issue along with public announcements,” he said.

Mr. Jaffar has earlier penned lyrics to spread awareness on source segregation, dengue and against the use of plastics. Mr. Jaffar has won accolades for his earlier efforts to raise awareness from the Tiruvallur Collectorate and the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration. He will soon release his sixth song on the pandemic and also plans to release a compilation of 200 poems that he has written since his college days.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by K. Lakshmi / Chennai- April 28th, 2020

‘Marriage can wait, not my patients’: Kerala doctor puts service ahead of marriage

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Education, Science & Technology, , , , , ,

KERALA :

The doctor’s colleagues said she was dressed in her best attire, the protective gear, on the day of her marriage, which was postponed on her request.

Kerala doctor decided to serve coronavirus patients instead of getting married during the outbreak
Kerala doctor decided to serve coronavirus patients instead of getting married during the outbreak(Sourced Photo)

Sunday, March 29 was supposed to be one of the happiest days in the life of a young Kerala doctor as she was all set to get married to a Dubai based businessmen. However, the critical battle against coronavirus meant that instead of getting married, she decided to don her protective gear and treat patients afflicted by the dreaded virus.

Meet 23-year-old, Dr Shifa M Mohammed, a house surgeon, who was busy at the isolation ward of the Pariyaram medical college hospital in Kannur on Sunday, March 29. Instead of bridal finery, the young anti-Covid-19 warrior donned the personal protection equipment (PPE) that day. ‘Marriage can wait, not my patients, who are struggling for their lives in isolation wards,’ she had told her groom and parents. Both of them readily agreed to her decision.

“In every girl’s, life wedding is an important event. But my daughter has put her social responsibility and professional commitment before her personal needs. When she suggested postponement of her wedding, we readily agreed to it,” said her father Mukkam Mohammed, a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party and LDF district convenor in Kozhikkode.

“When we approached the groom Anus Mohammad, a businessman in Dubai, he also readily agreed to it. I am a social worker and my wife is a teacher. Both my daughters have imbibed this spirit from our social work,” Mohammed added.

His elder daughter is also a doctor and currently posted at the Kozhikkode medical college hospital.

Initially Dr Shifa was reluctant to speak about her decision, which she said was “not out of the ordinary”, but after much prodding, she said “I didn’t do anything great. I did only my duty. I don’t want to talk about it much. There are many like me who postponed their personal engagements. I am only one among them,” she said over the phone after coming out of the isolation ward.

“It is true, on marriage day I was in the corona ward and some of my friends teased me saying I was dressed in my best attire (PPE). But I always enjoy serving my patients. I don’t want to talk much about it as I did my duty only,” she said, and added that as a house surgeon, she can’t talk about her patients and other details.

As the number of Sars-CoV-2 infected have gone up significantly in Kerala, the state government has recently converted Pariyaram medical college hospital in Kannur to a dedicated facility to treat Covid-19 patients. The state has reported two disease-related deaths and 234 people are in isolation wards.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India News / by Ramesh Babu , Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram / March 31st, 2020

An alternative business plan

Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, Green Products, Transport, , ,

TAMIL NADU :

Mansoor Ali Khan with his retro-fitted autorickshaw. Photo: special arrangement.  

Entrepreneur Mansoor Ali Khan helps women autorickshaw drivers take up vegetable sales during the lockdown

In the midst of the lockdown, an entrepreneur has come up with an alternative business plan for his associates.

Mansoor Ali Khan, chairman, M Auto Pride Pvt Ltd, who manufactures and rents electric auto-rickshaws, is helping the autorickshaw drivers who hire vehicles from him, turn their hand at vegetable selling.

Mansoor says, “As autorickshaw-drivers’ business has taken a beating due to the lockdown restrictions on movement of people, I suggested that they try working as vegetable vendors as there is a huge demand for home delivery of goods and services now.”

Warming up to this idea, five women auto-rickshaw drivers are selling fruits and vegetables since the first week of April. “Till the lockdown is lifted, I’m not going to charge any rental fee for my auto-rickshaws. We have helped them identify a few apartment complexes where these auto-drivers can sell vegetables and fruits. Now, it is up to them to expand their customer base,” says Mansoor. For this purpose, Mansoor’s company retrofitted auto-rickshaws with provision for racks.

“With the permission of authorities concerned, we got three auto-rickshaws ready in four days, in the last week of March at our plant at Madipakkam. Besides, we are working to roll out another 25 such vehicles in a month, as a few more autorichshaw drivers with us are interested in taking up vegetables and fruits selling,” says Mansoor.

Auto-drivers A. Mohana Sundari and M. Selva Rani, who sell vegetables now, say, “In a day, we need to earn a bare minimum of Rs.1,000 to see a reasonable profit. Earlier, we had to slog up to 8 p.m. to earn that amount. Now, we are able to make it by noon, in fact with better profit,” they say.

Mansoor says he also offers his vehicles for free to voluntary groups and charity organisations that are reaching out to the poor and needy during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“There are many voluntary groups which distribute groceries, food packets and masks to migrant labourers, conservancy workers, differently-abled, senior-citizens and expectant mothers. They approach us as it is difficult to find transportation facility due to the lockdown. So, we provide our vehicles for free and we take care of the payment of the autorickshaw-drivers. As our vehicles run on electric power, they do not entail much fuel cost,” says Mansoor.

Voluntary groups and those who want to place orders for vegetables can call 73058 29811.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai – Entrepreneurship Chennai / by L Kanthimathi / April 28th, 2020

Youngsters ‘rice’ to the occasion, do their bit for villages

Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, FREE : Food, Karnataka (under research project),

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

They load their vehicles with rice, pulses and spices as also medicines and hygiene kits for distribution in these villages, just 50km from Bengaluru.

Bengaluru :

Siddanapalya and Chinnaiahnapalya—two backward villages in Anekal taluk of Bengaluru Rural district—daily see a band of youngsters come there and give them gyaan on coronavirus and provide essentials.Murali Prabhas, a young startup entrepreneur, and three other fellow engineers, Thasneem Fathima, Sushmitha Singh and R Nisha, trudge every day from Whitefield to Anekal to provide succour to these affected villages due to the lockdown. Another member is Dr Raj Kumar who is busy with his medical duties but contributes to their volunteering programme in kind and cash.

They load their vehicles with rice, pulses and spices as also medicines and hygiene kits for distribution in these villages, just 50km from Bengaluru. The group tries to create awareness about the deadly Covid-19 disease and the need to maintain personal hygiene – hand washing and social distancing. However, it is easier said than done as the professionals from Bengaluru say the attention span of people is just five minutes when one talks about coronavirus and its deadly effect while the attraction for food and hygiene kits is more.

The ‘Humanity First’ group has been involved in social work for the last five years and they say the present work has not been easy as the villages with a population of 1,000-1,200 are completely unaware of what is happening in the world.  Murali says, “None of them adheres to any rules of the national lockdown. As far as social distancing is concerned, it is an alien concept for them.”

Members of Humanity First distribute food at a village in Anekal taluk | Express

Presently, this group has been preparing food like pulao/tomato bhath/bisibele bhath/puliyogire at the villages itself as any packed food is not welcome here. The day’s menu is prepared taking help from a select band of 10 villagers while the vegetables are purchased from the farmers here. This makes it easy for the group to deal with them as they are highly suspicious, says a group member. “Only 4-5 of us go every day as we have to maintain social distancing.  The villagers crowd around us as soon as we reach.”

Food is such an attraction that some residents bring vessels instead of plates. “We have been teaching them how to wash hands, wear masks and keep a distance of 12 feet from one another. For them, the kit is a big attraction apart from the food and within 5 minutes, we have to teach them about hygiene.”

The hygiene kit comprises a bottle of sanitiser, mask, bath and washing soaps, sanitary pads, shampoo and a strip of Dolo 650 – a paracetamol. Every day, kits worth Rs 12,000 are distributed to children who are above 14 years. For food preparation, they spend about Rs 6,000 per day.The group is managing this work from its own savings and small donations from their friends and relatives while one of the members brings his vehicle for distribution work.

In these villages, one can find migrant labourers from UP, Bihar and Odisha who work in the nearby iron and steel fabrication units, garment factories and a pharmaceutical company. Since the units are closed, the migrants have been managing with free rations from the government. For the migrants, these are hard times and even a single food item that they get from these youngsters is welcome.

The Humanity First has tied up with a women’s group who are making sanitisers and masks and they are helping them to market 2,000 masks and 10 litres of sanitiser.For this dedicated group of youngsters, it is with a prayer on their lips that they go to these villages to do their bit. “People await our arrival every day and we cannot miss it even for one day in such harsh times,” they say.

Service their motto

From 2014 onwards, Murali Prabhas has done a lot of backend work for charity trusts and Rotary. He and his friends built four washrooms for the Divine Blind School in 2016. After his visit to a school in Kolar district where children were wearing torn uniforms, Murali and his friends decided to take up social work and adopted two slums between Kadugodi and Whitefield in Bengaluru. For three years, they taught science and mathematics and distributed textbooks to Class 10 children in the slums.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Meera Bharadwaj / Express News Service / April 26th, 2020