Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, May 7

For the past almost a week, a group of nearly 20 volunteers is involved in the preparation, packaging and delivery of cooked meals to about 80-odd Covid-hit families in Jalandhar twice a day.

The volunteers are contributing for the purchase of raw and packaging material and getting the meals readied from the sewadars at Guru Nanak Mission Gurdwara here. They then move in different directions to deliver these packed thalis for lunch and dinner at homes and hospitals for the attendants.

Charanjiv Lally and Jaspreet Singh, who are leading the group, say they are also delivering khichdi and porridge to patients suffering from stomach ailments.

Three days ago, city-based NGO Gill Foundation donated 10 oxygen concentrators to the Red Cross Society to be used for Covid patients. NGO patron Raj Gill said he had made the donation as he felt no life should be lost due to lack of oxygen.

Meanwhile, Jalandhar-based businessman Inderjit Paintal is recording motivational audios and sending those to Covid patients.

He is also podcasting those on his portal “sageadvice.in” for all those experiencing mental stress. He has also formed a group “We care” with more than 50 psychologists through which he is connecting with students facing problems in online education, doing webinars especially for those in grief after losing a family member and even offering people 15-minute free counselling session with his panel of psychologists.

These are just a few instances wherein the community has risen for the cause and is offering all help for the Covid-affected. There are at least five to six cooked food services being offered in Jalandhar alone. Several hoteliers, too, have joined hands for the cause.

Various political leaders have also joined in for the cause. Congress leaders are primarily engaged in getting the government “Fateh kits” and free ration delivered to Covid patients. BJP leaders, too, have been offering free cooked meals on demand. SGPC chief Jagir Kaur has got readied a 25-bed facility at a resort in Bholath with oxygen and emergency services.