Amid lockdown, seven foreigners turn Good Samaritans for poor

They had come to India on a spiritual mission but the coronavirus outbreak prompted a group of seven foreigners in Uttarakhand's Rishikesh to change their plans and serve the poor.

Every day, they arrange food items for distribution among hundreds of the needy as they could not see people go hungry, an official said.

Rishikesh Municipal Commissioner Narendra Singh Quiriyal says as the lockdown left a number of people stranded here, the group planned to distribute food items among the poor.

They decided to distribute 300 foodgrain packets every day among the poor families and migrant workers, instead of doing what they had planned--yoga, he said.

"All of them had come to Rishikesh to seek spiritual knowledge and learn yoga but the conditions created by the lockdown made them change their plans," he added.

The group comprises Henry Johnston from the UK; Tejasvi Giri, an NRI based in the US; Relinde Rijswijk from the Netherlands; Tarini Dagnimo from Venezuela; Alejandro Jerovic from Croatia; Eva Lena from Germany; and Varun Juneja, a London-based NRI.

They hand over food packets--including five kg of wheat flour, three kg of rice, two kg each of pulses, spices and salt-- to the municipal authorities every day for distributed among the poor, he said.

The packets are delivered to the needy by Rishikesh Mayor Anita Mamgain and Quiriyal himself.