Elderly people and orphans living on the streets have seen their fate take a turn for the worse this year.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutting down of public places like railway stations, bus stands and parks — leaving them with no place to spend the night. The closure of commercial establishments ensured that they now had nowhere to go to for food.
With nowhere to stay and no source of food or alms, homeless people endured one of the toughest phases of their life, said officials.
Observing their plight, Parvathipuram Municipal Commissioner Kanaka Mahalakshmi allocated a building near Rythu Bazar in the town for their stay. She also roped in the services of the Integrated Rural People Welfare Association (IRPWA) to ensure regular meals for the destitute. Under the programme of Shelter for Urban Homeless, the municipality sanctions around ₹50 per day to provide food for orphans and neglected elderly persons.
IRPWA Director P.K. Prakasha Rao and his friends and a few philanthropists are also contributing money to ensure that the homeless people get three meals a day.
“Fifty-two destitute people could get decent shelter and food through the joint efforts of Parvathipuram Municipality and IRPWA. As many of them were suffering from various health problems, we organised medical camps under the supervision of senior doctors. Periodical medical check ups and medicines were ensured for needy persons,” said Mr. Prakasha Rao. According to him, IRPWA is supplying food at ₹23 for tribal people and others who come to Parvathipuram Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) for submission of petitions to higher officials on Monday which is observed as Grievance Day. “In spite of skyrocketing of prices of essential commodities and vegetables, we have kept the price unchanged in order to serve as many people as possible,” he said.
