Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Apr 26: Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, O P Bhagat and SSP Kathua, Shailendra Misra today said that the whole world is suffering from an uncommon type of virus COVID-19 which affected whole India, including the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
While addressing the media persons here, today they said from the very first day of lockdown it become a challenge for administration to sort out the problems of people particularly migrant labourers and poor who have been locked in district Kathua.
The administration left no stone unturned to provide the help to these needy people but it was not possible without the help of local residents, they added.
They said in the meantime, some volunteers from district Kathua approached them with an offer to help the needy people. On this, a helping group in collaboration with J&K Police under the name of “United Kathua Jammu and Kashmir police” was constituted by SSP Kathua on March 27. A War Room was established in the building of DPO Kathua with dedicated infrastructure including all amenities along with technical gadgets for its uninterrupted round the clock functioning under the direct supervision of SSP Kathua, they added.
They said, United Kathua started community kitchens at different locations in the district to provide the meals twice a day to the needy people and at present 16 such kitchens are functioning in the district providing meals to more than 16,635 needy persons twice a day. In this process about 100 tons of rice, 150 ton of cooking oil and 400 kgs of Soyabeen have been used so far.
Apart from this, about five tons of rice and 451 liters of cooking oil has also been distributed to needy persons through home delivery. Besides, the animals are fed on daily basis and 12,000 biscuit packets have been fed to them along with green grass of about Rs.60000.
DC Kathua O P Bhagat added that United Kathua received 4400 calls on help line numbers 9540501414 and 9797501414 for home delivery of essential services like ration, milk, medicine, books and medical helps. Acting upon these calls 1491calls were resolved and 209 calls are under monitoring.
United Kathua JKP provides medicines to needy people at their door step and “We purchased medicine amounting to Rs.487735 from different States including Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and distributed medicine of Rs. 23252 free of cost to poor and needy people’’, he added.
SSP Kathua Shailendra Misra said that on the very first day of our efforts, local people from community step forward and donated Rs. 87,6861 to help feeding and medicating stranded people of Kathua district. Out of the donation received, the total expenditure which already used Rs. 713429 and now the balance available with United Kathua is Rs. 163432.
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