“The train got delayed when we were about to reach Bihar. A route that should have taken two hours took 12. We were supposed to reach at 6 pm, but we arrived at 3 am,” says Sanjeev Kumar, a migrant worker who left this month from Bengaluru. “Had it not been for the emergency food packets provided to us at the Bangalore railway station, I don’t know what we would have done. We also received free servings of chitranna at Vishakhapatnam and upma at Vijayawada.”

The idea for Gantway Sathi Aahar (friend till destination) initiative, which provides emergency food packets in addition to cooked food, came to Raushan Kumar (27), Divisional Commercial Manager, Bengaluru Division, South Western Railways. Akhil Bhartiya Ekta Manch, United Sikhs, and IITians4India provided assistance in this endeavour. “Since trains were getting delayed, the migrant workers needed food packets that would sustain them during their journey,” says Raushan. That is when the idea for emergency food packets emerged. Bengaluru-based Sudhanshu Garg and Bikesh, alumnus of IIT Mumbai, and members of IIT4India, wanted to take action to help migrant workers instead of lamenting and criticising. Sudhanshu decided to speak with Raushan to see what they could do. “IITians4India is a group of IIT volunteers working on short term and long term high impact projects through the support of IITians across the globe,” says Sudhanshu. “Their first project is ‘Combat Food Bags for Migrants’ led by alumni of IIT Bombay, Bikesh and me. It started when the team wanted to do something to help the migrants as they commute. Sudhanshu reached out to the Railways department and that is how we contributed.”

Gantway Sathi Aahar food packets were thus provided in addition to cooked food. “They have a shelf life of more than three days and contain friend-till-destination food pack with litti (a delicacy in Bihar), four pieces of onion and green chillis, four buns, two one litre water bottles, two tetrapacks of juice, one biscuit packet, 250 grams of papdi namkin, two bananas and two chocolates. There were complaints that due to intense heatwaves migrant workers are suffering from dehydration. “So we have started to give one sachet of ORS (oral rehydration solution) to vulnerable sections, particularly lactating mothers, children and other women passengers,” says Raushan.

Considering the hardships migrant workers have faced ever since lockdown, with their arduous journey back home, either walking for thousands of kilometres without any money, food or water, or travelling packed in buses and trains, Raushan decided they could do more to uplift their spirits. “That is when we introduced the ‘Put The Smile Back’ initiative, in which we distribute Channapatna toys to children of the migrant workers. This way we not only uplift their spirits but also rejuvenate the local business of Channapatna toy makers. I had received a letter of appreciation from the Channapatna Toy Makers Association. Till now we have purchased toys worth ₹1 lakh. I am also trying to promote the toys in other states too. We have received orders from officers in Rajasthan, Pune and Ranchi.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Sravasti Datta / May 30th, 2020