My lockdown takeaway

In India, everything was going on smoothly until the month of February 2020. At the same time, in most parts of the world, Covid-19 virus was spreading like wildfire, with more fatalities reported daily. In The month of March 2020, exactly a year ago, in India too Coronavirus virus cases started to follow an upward curve. In the third week of March 2020 the Government of India decided to impose lock down and various State governments started to follow the central government decision including Telangana.

The world came to virtual standstill as far as movements of people were concerned and we have never witnessed and experienced this kind of situation ever before. Most of the government and private sector organisations switched to Work from Home (WFH) mode and students of the education sector opted for online education. The most affected sector, by this unforeseen pandemic, was the people who are below the poverty line and who earn their bread and butter through daily wage earnings. Even though they were getting some relief in the form of food grains and some cash announcements from the government of Telangana, it was not entirely sufficient to overcome their hunger.

At this stage I decided to help the construction workers who lost their daily employment. With the help of my friends I formed a group called 'Sankalp', a COVID-19 relief program, the motto of which is to help the needy. We briefed about our initiative to our parents and friends and immediately donations started to pour in. We have prepared 'Grocery Kits' consisting of Rice, oil, dal, salt etc., We have distributed the same to vast sections of construction workers in Bachupally, Sithafalmandi and Warasiguda areas. When we handed over the grocery kits to the needy persons I could see the 'spark' in their eyes which I can cherish through rest of my life.

(The author is pursuing M Tech in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay)