Ten-year-old Anjali and her mother Tara wait in front of their makeshift house for more than an hour awaiting their turn to get some essentials in the hot summer afternoon on Sunday.
A few minutes before that Murali Rao and Bhanu, both in their mid 40s, were able to receive 25 kgs of rice, a bag of vegetables, a packet of groceries and oil packet, all worth more than ₹ 2,000. Sumangali and Prarthana were also among those who waited on the road leading to Maheswara Medical College.
There are about 40 families, all of them who migrated from Mysore and surrounding areas, who were by selling plastic flowers and other materials for a living. Since Janata Curfew on March 22 and the subsequent lockdown, their lives turned upside down. They could not sell anything since then and their revenues dipped to zero.
All of them are residing in makeshift houses made either with clothes or plastic covers thereby relived of the burden of paying monthly rent. Some of them are using their vehicles as temporary accommodation. The government had extended rations for them, but it has already dried up. Knowing about their plight, two persons — G. Revanth and Dasari Kiran — came all the way from the city and extended them the needed help.
“We are struggling for the past few days due to lack of support. Though the government has extended the rations, it is already over,” Sumangali told The Hindu.
“People are showing their humane side. A large number of persons came forward and extended financial help when we proposed assistance to the needy,” said Mr. Revanth.
