IIT-KGP students come forward to help poor during lockdown

Kolkata, May 5 () As people in the unorganisedsector are finding it hard to make both ends meet amid thecoronavirus-triggered lockdown, a group of students of IIT-Kharagpur has started providing food and protective gears tothe poor in villages around their campus.

The Gopali Youth Welfare Society, an entity which thestudents had formed earlier to undertake community projects inthe neighbourhood of the campus, is distributing essentialitems to around 2,000 poor families under the Gopali grampanchayat, a member of the organisation said.

"The items that we have been distributing to eachhousehold are 3 kg rice, 500 gram onions, 2 kg potato, 100gram soya bean to ensure nutrition of children and othermembers of the poor families in this crisis period," a studentof the institute and spokesman of the entity Anurag Modi said.

Volunteers of the organisation are distributing theseitems door-to-door to prevent gatherings, he said, adding thathand sanitiser and masks are also being given to maintainhygiene and safety, which are essential now to fight againstthe coronavirus outbreak.

In addition, 500 masks were also provided to ASHA(accredited social health activist) workers, police and staffat BDO and SDO offices, he said.

"We will also distribute 1,000 masks among students,parents, teachers and workers of Jagriti Vidya Mandir, aschool initiated by the organisation for the poor childrenliving near the campus area years back," he said. SUSBDC BDC