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Bihari community from Chicago runs Covid19 food aid program at Patna

 

Patna, 5th September,2020. Every weekend a group of ham radio volunteers come together on the banks of the Ganga Ghats to implement a humanitarian program which has been conceived and funded by the Bihari community of Chicago in USA to distribute food and essential items to the lowest strata of the society in and around Patna during COVID19 pandemic. The basic purpose of the program is to identify and support people who are not getting the benefits of the government programs and have been worst effected during the pandemic. More than 80 families have been provided rations and other essentials like soap, sanitary napkins, and face masks to help them survive the pandemic. Each packet contains ration for a family of 4 people to last about one month. Sumita VU2IO along with her ham radio friends first identify the most needy people, then they themselves go and distribute the aid. This program has been possible with the help of the Bihari community of Chicago and was initiated by a school girl whose parents live and work in Chicago in USA. Ananya Shahi and her mother Shivani requested the Bihari community to help raise a small fund which could meet the expenses to fund this program. During a telephonic interview Shivani said that Surendra Kumar & Shashi Singh, Sanjeev Kumar and Shivani, Rajeev & Manisha Priyadarshi, Neelam & Pashupathi Singh, Shishir & Rashmi Ranjan, Jaya and Sanjeev Dwivedi, Anurag & Neha Rai, Rajeev & Sharmila Singh, Pankaj & Khushboo Kumar, Divya & Mukesh Verma, Rohini and Pankaj Sinha , Shyam Kumar, Sangita and Dheeraj Singh , Seema & Ravi Mishra , Anju & Mr Kumar , Tanuja and Shekhar Mishra, Lata and Vinay Singh , Abhilasha & Vivek Singh, Somya & Rohit Sinha, Sweta & Satyendra Sinha, Shambhavi & Manish Kumar, Shikha & Bibha Sinha  all are from Bihar and have helped to make this possible. Their are several others who have helped in their own ways.

Santosh is a 30 year old sweeper who worked in a private firm which is now closed. He has no savings and lives in a slum with his wife and three kids. He is not covered under a government scheme since he has come from his village to work at Patna. Santosh picks up the garbage from a few residential apartments to make a living but the meagre payments are not enough. He was extremely elated to receive this aid which will keep his kitchen fires burning during difficult times till things improve. Radha is 40 years old and is blind, her husband has deserted her and she lives with her two teenage daughters on the pavement in front of a famous girls school in Patna. She used to survive on alms from school girls and their parents. With schools and colleges closed for more than 6 months she has no-one to help her. Radha was identified and timely intervention saved her from many difficulties. Imtiaz the fisherman rows his boat for 6 to 7 hours daily with his son to catch fishes in the river. With floods and choppy waters it is becoming more difficult to survive. His buyers were mostly evening walkers along the newly constructed Ganga Pathway but now they are scared due to COVID19. Imtiaz mostly keeps his boat parked and was facing real difficult times….when the volunteer team closed in near his parked boat he was extremely happy to receive the packet. Their are rickshaw pullers, daily wage earners, roadside sellers and others whose lives have been touched by this small intervention and they thank god and their sponsors who have bought hope and smiles in their life.

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