Presidency Alumni Association distributes masks, sanitisers to

The Presidency Alumni Association has come forward to distribute hand sanitisers and masks to casual employees, elderly parents of former students, and staff of the university who have not been able to procure these items during the ongoing lockdown.

Alumni association president Bibhas Choudhury told PTI on Thursday, that high-quality santisers and masks are being given to members of the "Presidency family" who are without these items, essential to help prevent spread of the virus.

"We have set a target of reaching out to 400 families in next 15 days. Alcohol-based hand sanitisers have been sourced from a reputed firm and three-layered masks are being prepared by a self help group under our supervision following WHO norm."

The idea came up during a recent chat between members of the alumni and they started pooling resources for the initiative.

 

"We started distributing hand sanitisers and masks since Wednesday.

"We will reach out to more people, related to the large Presidency family, in coming days," he said.

Choudhury said, the association will also seek the guidance of Nobel-winning alumnus Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee about the ways to take the drive forward.

"We will send details about our initiative to Mr Banerjee and seek his guidance. His experience as being part of the global advisory board of West Bengal government to fight COVID-19 will also enlighten us in our small contribution to society," he said.

Meanwhile, a group of students, from different colleges and universities across the state, has formed a platform on Facebook called 'Quarantined Students - Youth Network' to address the problem of food shortage among the poor.

"Our purpose is to find out poor people who are the worst hit in the present situation and deliver food at their doorsteps in the lockdown period, while maintaining social distance norms," one of the students involved in the initiative said.

"If anyone here comes across food shortage issues in Bally, Uttarpara, Belur, Liluah, Baranagar, Dakhineshwar, Rajchandrapur and other nearby areas please directly message me the details. We have raised some funds and are now allocating the amount for food distribution," posted one of the students.

There were also posts about members distributing cooked food among the poor in Sonarpur, Uluberia, Bankura, Birbhum, and other places in the districts.

Another member of the platform narrated how a beautician has joined them in making low-cost masks for distribution among the poor.

"This lockdown is indeed a tutorial. A real life tutorial on how to spread love at a time when we are going through a period of distress," she said.