Jubin on relief work in U’khand: This is somebody else’s job who is not doing it right

I have a problem with the statement that it’s still a new state. Bees saal ho gaye...

JUBIN NAUTIYAL,

Singer

Singer Jubin Nautiyal is busy with Covid-19 relief work in his home state, Uttarakhand. From arranging oximeters and food to spreading awareness about the virus, he’s one of the several voices, apart from actorchoreographer Raghav Juyal, to speak up about the worrisome condition back home.

Recalling how things went “out of hand” a week ago, Nautiyal says he fails to understand the notion of Uttarakhand being a ‘new state’. “It was formed in 2000... Things should be moving here now. We celebs shouldn’t be coming out to help people; it’s not our job. It is somebody else’s job, who is clearly not doing it right,” he rues.

Highlighting the “bad political front” in the state, the singer asserts that people stopped taking the pandemic seriously. “The state isn’t as bad... The problem is with us, as a society. The first wave was taken seriously, the second was not, by every individual in India. We were not ready for it,” he asserts.

The Tum Hi Aana (Marjaavaan, 2019) singer even converted his digital concert into a fundraiser, to help people in Chamoli who were affected by the cloudburst, and managed to raise ₹15 lakh. While he continues to help those in need, he does not believe in blowing his own trumpet.

“I have a region of oneand-a-half lakh people, I want to bring a change here first, and then move to the next one. There’s also a migration issue. Migrants came back to nothing, no food. We took help from Anant Ambani’s foundation, that sent 6,000 food kits,” Nautiyal tells us, adding, “Then, we spread awareness among people here; they thought the police will take them [in isolation] if they test positive. Along with a team of doctors, I myself explained to these people that getting detected early is the key.”