Indore opens heartstrings & purse-strings for Covid orphans

BHOPAL: In a heart-warming story from Indore, citizens of this Swachh city pooled together Rs 14.5 lakh to clear the bank-loan debt of two siblings orphaned by Covid.
Akash Singh, 21, and his sister Ishita, 18, whose parents died during the Covid second wave, had attended a Diwali event on Sunday, organized on CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s instructions, where Covid orphans can speak directly with the administration about their concerns and needs.
The siblings told collector Manish Singh that their parents had taken a home loan top-up of Rs 14.5 lakh and a car loan of Rs 8 lakh. “They said they would clear the car loan by renting out a portion of their house, but needed help with the home loan,” the collector said.
News of the siblings reached some Indoreans, unlocking heart strings and pursestrings. Eight donors, including some colony residents, pharma firm owners and builders, approached the collector on Monday, offering to help Akash and Ishita. One of the donors, Sumit Mantri, said that colonizers of Ranwasa area came forward to jointly repay the loan and have decided to donate Rs 14.5 lakh. “We are donating the money to the district administration’s Red Cross Society to settle the account,” Mantri said.
SBI chief manager (GPO branch) MK Maheshwari said, “Akash’s father Upendra Narayan Singh had taken a loan of Rs 9 lakh and a top up of Rs 15 lakh. After his death, Rs 5.72 lakh of home loan was settled through insurance, while around Rs 14.5 lakh, including interest, as part of the top up loan, was pending”.
Tehsildar Sanjay Garg, who has been appointed as ‘guardian officer’ for the siblings, said, “Akash is in third year of BTech and his sister is in Class XI. Their father Upendra Narayan Singh, who worked in Pithampur industrial area, and mother Soni Singh, died during the second Covid wave.”
Ishita is eligible for Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Baal Kalyan Yojana, so she will get free education, plus financial help of Rs 5,000 per month and free ration and education.