Youth group feeds migrant labourers & beggars, sanitise their living spaces

In a glimpse of hope during trying times, a group of youth here has come forward to feed beggars and migrant labourers, and sanitise their makeshift accommodations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

With nationwide lockdown declared by the central government to arrest the spread of the deadly disease, hundreds of migrant workers were left stranded in this winter capital with no work or food to sustain themselves.

The group of 20 youngsters led by Nikhil Kumar has been making rounds of the inter state bus terminal at Transport Nagar here since the past 13 days.

Our Lok Seva Group' is reaching out to beggars at various places of the city, especially ISBT Transport Nagar. We provide food to the needy and sanitize their open living spaces under ISBT sheds, Kumar told PTI.

He said the group provides lunch, dinner and tea to 250 to 300 people, especially the elderly, children and women, among the labourers and beggars.

The Lok Seva Group carries food and tea cans in load carriers and distribute the same to the people while maintaining social distancing, and sanitize their open living spaces with spraying machines.

"It is my job from the group to carry spraying machines and sanitize the areas. We have three to four such spraying machines to sanitize the areas where the migrant labourers and beggars are living, Arvind, a member of the group, said.

He said the group members prepare the food in their homes.

"Now people from our locality in Nanak Nagar have begun providing us cooked food for these people. We feel it is a good step to reach out to the disadvantaged and ensure that they do not sleep on an empty stomach, he added.

The district administration is yet to support this group of youth with food supplies and spraying material as they have been doing it on their own.

The nationwide 21-day lockdown to fight coronavirus has resulted in unimaginable distress to lakhs of migrant workers.

Hundreds of non-local labourers in Jammu and Kashmir are without money or food and fewer options of leaving their squalid makeshift accommodation due to the lockdown.