Meet the coronavirus warriors fighting hunger in Bhopal

BHOPAL: As Bhopalis remain cooped up indoors, there are some bravehearts on field constantly serving those in need, coordinating demand and supply of essentials. They are our real heroes...the lockdown heroes. Next time you see them, don’t forget to greet them with a smile.


In slums of Aishbagh area,

volunteers

of Awaaz organisation are working day and night to ensure no one goes to bed hungry and they have sufficient stock of ration.

They are also reaching out to marginalised sections of LGBTQ community, HIV positive patients, students and migrant workers. With joint efforts of

Bhopal Municipal Corporation

and the district administration, they have shortlisted areas that need help.

Rolly Shivhare, one of the volunteers said, “It’s important for people to collectively fight this crisis. Everyday we try to reach out to more people so to minimise the prevalence of hunger and lack of basic hygiene equipment.”

Most of the people residing in Aishbag area daily wage workers.

In such times, it is nearly impossible for them to feed their families.

To address this, volunteers have been divided into teams and given separate tasks.

First set of volunteers appeal to people on social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp if they want to contribute foodgrains and other essential items for the needy. Second team collects this donated stuff from them and divides it into packets.

Other teams take charge of cooked meals for which Shri Guru Teg Bhadur Saibh Gurudwara in Saket Nagar prepares the morning meal and Jain Temple in MP Nagar the evening meal.

These meals are distributed according to the lists of areas located by the organisation. Aawaz supplies food packets to almost 300 families in the city on a daily basis, along with grains and dry supplies to migrant workers from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand and other states. Students have also been provided with food assistance.