Bhutia shelter to migrant workers
Kolkata, March 30: Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia on Monday offered shelter to migrant workers of Sikkim to tackle the ongoing crisis arising out of the 21-day nationwide lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Migrant workers of unorganised sectors, desperate to return home, have been badly hit after the lockdown was imposed from midnight on Tuesday.
“The people who are affected the most during the lockdown are migrant workers. There was a huge cue in Sikkim border yesterday. I’ve got a new unfinished building in Gangtok (Lumsey, Tadong). It should accommodate about 100 people,” Bhutia said.
“I’ve offered any migrant worker who does not have any house to stay there. We will also provide them some basic ration. I’m also working with the local authorities to see how it can be done. We can support and work together.”
Bhutia further said he’s in touch with the local administration to arrange for medical services. “Not a single case of corona positive as of now. So that they (migarant workers) are safe from corona. Doctors can also check. We are trying to request the government. At least they will be safe from the coronavirus in the house when the borders have been shut and locked. They are badly hit they don’t have anywhere to go,” he said.
The people who are affected the most during the lockdown are migrant workers. There was a huge cue (sic) in Sikkim border yesterday. I’ve got a new unfinished building in Gangtok (Lumsey, Tadong). It should accommodate about 100 people. I’ve offered any migrant worker who does not have any house to stay there. We will also provide them some basic ration.
— BHAICHUNG BHUTIA
forrmer Indian football captain
KOHLI, ANUSHKA PLEDGE SUPPORT
India cricket captain Virat Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma on Monday pledged their support to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Kohli took to Twitter to announce the decision. However, he did not specify how much the couple would be donating. “Anushka and I are pledging our support towards PM-CARES Fund & the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (Maharashtra). Our hearts are breaking looking at the suffering of so many & we hope our contribution, in some way, helps easing the pain of our fellow citizens #IndiaFightsCorona”
MANU BHAKER, SATHIYAN PITCH IN
India’s ace table tennis player G. Sathiyan pledged to donate `1.25 lakh.
“These are testing times for all of us especially for the daily wage workers & migrant labourers. I hereby pledge to donate a total of `1,25,000 (`1 lakh for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s public relief fund & `25,000 for PM Cares fund) !!,” Sathiyan tweeted.
Teen shooting sensation Manu Bhaker donated `1 lakh to the Haryana goverment to help combat the rapidly-spreading pandemic. The 18-year-old, who is a Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympics champion, belongs to Jhajjar district in the state.
Elsewhere, Indian footballers Pritam Kotal, Pronay Halder and Prabir Das have pooled in around `4 lakh to help the needy in West Bengal.
Kolkata’s football heavyweight club East Bengal also promised a donation of Rs 30 lakh to the state relief fund to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
MP MARY CONTRIBUTES ONE MONTH SALARY
Meanwhile, six-time world champion boxer M. C. Mary Kom said she will donate her one month’s salary as Rajya Sabha MP, amounting to `1 lakh, to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. “In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wish to donate my one month’s salary to the PM National Relief Fund. So, please debit an amount of `1,00,000 from my account,” Mary Kom said in a letter to the bank where her salary account is maintained.
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PTI