By Matters India Reporter

New Delhi, April 3, 2020: A Catholic school in Delhi is feeding migrants, destitute, and elderly caught in the in nationwide lockdown to contain coronavirus.

It all started with a desperate Whatsapp call Father Savariraj, the principal of Rosary School at Narela in North Delhi district, received on March 30.

The priest immediately convened a meeting of the school’s teaching staff on Zoom app and appealed them to donate rations.

“They responded positively, generously and willingly,” the priest says.

Meanwhile, Father Savariraj approached the Station House Office of the local police station to seek permission to distribute the groceries. The SHO gave a written permission.

Father Savariraj with Pratap, a staff, on April 3 distributed food to scores people, including residents of Philomena Paradise, an old age home on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.

“We see hundred thousands of migrants staying under flyovers during the lockdown,” Father Savariraj says.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the 21-day lockdown from March as one of the ways to stop the coronavirus spreading. “But the most affected are migrants and the poor. They are daily wage employees,” the Catholic priest bemoans.

According to him, the lockdown has rendered the daily wagers jobless. Some are rickshaw pullers, who had to hand over their vehicles to their owners.

“These are at the highest risk of getting infected by the virus,” Father Savariraj explained

He said the school management and the staff want to become doers rather than being mere spectators as the deadly virus creates havoc globally. The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith, rich or poor, the priest said and noted that “the most vulnerable are women, children, differently abled, the marginalized and the displaced.”

Father Sariraj expressed the hope that their “little act of charity” would influence more people to become generous in coming days. He thanked Sister Saguntla, the headmistress, for coordinating the charity act with the teaching and non-teaching staff.

He also said their school made use of the act of charity as an opportunity to showcase the values as the school enters its 15th year of existence.