By Matters India Reporter
Varanasi, April 14, 2020: A group of civil society groups in Varanasi has decided to feed daily wagers for 15 days from April 14, the birth anniversary of Bheem Rao Ambedkar, a Dalit leader revered as the father of the Indian Constitution.
Jan Mitra Nyas (People Friendly Trust), a public charitable trust in collaboration of Akhil Bharat Varshiya Brahman Mahasabha (All India grand council of Brahman) will organize community kitchen for 35 families of daily wagers living in Chaukaghat area of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, said Lenin Raghuvanshi, president of People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights.
The Varanasi-based non-profit organization works among Dalits and attends to the mother and child health issues among the Musahar (rat eaters) community and other deprived sections.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who imposed 21-day lockdown on March 25, wants people to stay home, stay safe and stay alive. And on April 14, he extended it to May 3 as the government’s continued efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Raghuvanshi, a noted human rights activist, said his organization has distributed ration to the tribal families in the interior hamlets of Sonebhadra, Jaunpur, Ambedkar Nagar and Varanasi districts in co-operation with local administration for the last ten days.
It will now collaborate with others to help daily wagers who are severely affected by the nationwide lockdown.
Dalits predominate among the migrants stare at starvation because of the lockdown.
“The Raj Dulari memorial Neo Dalit community kitchen” is going to provide lunch and dinner to families belonging to Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Caste until April 30, Raghuvanshi said.
Rakesh Ranjan, a local social worker and Shruti Nagvanshi, managing trustee of Jan Mitra Nyas lead the effort to reconcile various caste groups in the area.
On the other hand, Parul Sharma spearheads the mobile community kitchen and provides funds with the help of 200 local donors.
Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891. He was a multi-faceted personality and contributed significantly to the country in several different ways.
He was the principal architect of the Indian Constitution and a champion of Dalit rights and all underprivileged sections of society.
He worked for the annihilation of caste, every form of discrimination in the country, and amelioration of Dalits.