August 3, 2021, Howrah: Around 250 people were feed with cooked food today at Don Bosco Bhattanagar shelter home. A daily joint venture between Don Bosco Ashalayam, Share it and people of Bhattanagar to feed people in need of food for a whole month of August was initiated today.

In the presence of Fr. CJ George, Director of Don Bosco Ashalayam, Fr. PV Thomas and Mr. Nirmal Jain, founder of Share it, food was cooked in the Don Bosco Shelter home by the people of Bhattanagar and was distributed to the poor and needy people of Bhattanagar.

Mr. Nirmal Jain, a businessman now turned philanthropist, goes about distributing cooked food to the people in need. He has fed people daily near Sealdah Station during lockdown and now he is collaborating with Don Bosco to feed people in need.

Don Bosco Ashalayam, catering to young and poor youth, has also heeded to the needs of poor families in and around Howrah by collaborating with other NGOs, one of them being Share it.

The Salesians of Kolkata provice initiated free medical check-up and free medication for the poor and needyat Nitika Don Bosco. The Province has launched a free Covid consultation and medication facility for the needy. The service also includes a facility with helpline numbers, doctor consultation, medication, diagnosis with blood test and RT-PCR test, nutrition and home-delivery arrangements with no cost. The service started from May 18 and is available throughout the day.

The initiative aims to offer all possible homecare assistance to the patients in the slums of Tangra, Kolkata. The people can use the helpline to avail medical instruction, doctor’s appointment and other necessary aid in medication and nutrition.

“The pandemic must not hurt the poor families, who already are at war against poverty and lack of proper education. Thousands of children have benefited from the educational and nutritional programmes from Nitika Don Bosco,” said Fr. Jijo John who is coordinating the Covid home care programme.Nitika Don Bosco also has been active in promoting physical, mental, and spiritual formation of the people all over India through various ways since April.

The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has affected us in many ways, but it has affected the poor and the marginalised sections of the society the most. It has resulted in an economic crisis, resulting in loss of livelihoods of daily wage workers and migrant labourers.

During this crisis, NGOs from across the country have come forward to help these vulnerable groups by providing food and other essential items.Don Bosco Development Society Calcutta (DBDOC) in partnership with BoscoNetdistributed more than 5,000 ration kits and 1450 Medical and Hygiene Kits to the poor and marginalized people of the slum dwellers from Park Circus &Tangra in Kolkata andMirpara&Liluahin Howrah. Each kit contained around 26kgsof ration items i.e. Wheat, Edible Oil, Sugar, Salt and Toiletries.The Hygiene Kits were also distributed in the slums of Tangra in Kolkata and Bhaghar in Howrah. Each Hygiene Kit contained Digital Thermometer, Reusable N95 Masks, Vitamin C Tablets, Hand Sanitizers and Soap.

The distribution program was carried out for almost one month in June and July and was concluded on July 31, 2021