COVID-19: IPS, IAS officers to help stranded Northeast people across the States

NEW DELHI: Hearing tales of stranded north-eastern people across the States, Indian Administrative Services (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers have joined hands to help them in a coordinated manner and have exclusively set up 24X7 ration control room for them.

They have also released WhatsApp numbers – 8011034569 and 8527320763 - for ration with the help of a non-governmental organization.

It was found that the people from the Northeast region living in various parts of the country fear being racially humiliated over coronavirus and also of being threatened by landlords for being evicted over non-payment of rent.

The initiative was taken up by IPS officer Robin Hibu based in Delhi. He in his personal capacity contacted 33 IAS/IPS officers from all states and union territories and roped in to volunteer to facilitate rations to the stranded northeastern people in their respective states and union territories. Hibu appraised the 33 officers across the country that among the northeastern people there is a huge “fear of being racially humiliated over coronavirus”.

Further, he explained that among the stranded people there is lack of awareness about the arrangements by state government for rations and most importantly no documents are available with them for availing rations from government ration distribution.

“He also said these officers who have agreed to volunteer said that there is a huge language problem especially for people from Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim,” sources said.

He also appraised them to ensure that no landlords threaten to evict them for non-payment of rent.

IPS officer Hibu, who is the face of Northeast in Delhi, also explained that there are endemic difficulties like availing the emergency cash transfer, especially for students and other stranded Northeast people in cities, due to erratic internet connection back home.

The officer has taken help of a non-government organization ‘Helping Hands’ to open 24X7 ‘Ration Control Room’ and to monitor distress calls made from across different States and Union Territories. Thereafter ‘Helping Hands’ will randomly check back about the delivery of the rations to Northeast students or lowly paid employees. (IANS)

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