Dalits warned against misuse of atrocity law, false complaints

Bengaluru, Apr 4: As calamity struck the nation in the form of coronavirus, many philanthropists have generously opened their wallets to sustain the urban poor, especially the migrant labourers in the city and elsewhere in Karnataka.

These individuals either directly or through organisations opened up their kitchens to ensure that no one goes to bed hungry in this distressing time.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the nodal agency to feed urban poor, responded positively to requests by these organisations and individuals to supply food to the needy on their behalf.

"We had been serving food through our Indira canteens, which we continue to do even now. However, many philanthropists and corporates have come forward to feed the needy," the BBMP joint commissioner Sarfaraz Khan told reporters.

According to BBMP, Indira canteens used to provide two lakh meals a day on normal occasions.

However, since the lockdown has been clamped, the number swelled by almost 50 per cent.

"On Thursday alone, we served 2.85 lakh food, which comprises breakfast, lunch and breakfast," a Palike officer said.

The major aid came from Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) and Azim Premji Foundation.

While JITO is feeding around 22,000 people, Azim Premji Foundation is taking care of 20,000 people.

Sajjanraj Mehta, an office bearer of JITO, told reporters that his organisation has been providing packaged cooked food since March 27.

"We got in touch with Bengaluru Mayor M Gautham Kumar, Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and the BBMP commissioner B H Anil Kumar. According to their list, 27,000 food packets were required daily," Mehta told.

The JITO members have arranged vehicles of their respective businesses to transport food packets to different locations as part of the campaign named as 'COVID-19 manav seva'.

The organisation has also decided to utilise the kitchen of Princess Golf, a marriage hall on Palace Grounds here to prepare food.

Palike officials said on Thursday alone JITO supplied 53,000 meals.

"We asked them to cover migrant labourers in those areas where Indira Canteen could not reach. We mapped the cluster and provided them info. Now, they are distributing it there," they said.

Another organisation engaged in charitable work is ISKCON Bengaluru.

Ever since the lockdown, it has been working in various parts of India providing food to various people.

"We are providing materials such as rice, wheat flour, Daal, oil, vegetables with long shelf life, salt, sugar and spices. Each packet can sustain for at least 21 days," Madhu Pandit Dasa, president of ISKCON Bengaluru.

The organisation has set a target to cover at least two lakh people but so far it has reached out to 30,000 people including 25,000 in Bengaluru alone.

"We are feeding about 50,000 people in Delhi, with the Telangana government we are feeding about 40,000 people in Hyderabad, about 10,000 people in Ahmedabad in association with the Gujarat government," Dasa told.

According to BBMP, other organisations providing food to the needy are KMFY, TVS Group, Vimal Bhandari, Radisson Blue Atria Hotel, Hitech Ecowood, Mohammed Shajid, Prestige Group.

Wipro Ltd also pitched in to feed the poor by opening up its industrial kitchen infrastructure.

In a statement, Global Head- Operations of the company Hariprasad Hegde said the humanitarian crisis we are faced with as part of the Covid-19 crisis has multiple dimensions to it, of which the need to deliver cooked meals to the stranded migrant workers and other vulnerable communities is probably the most critical and immediate one.

Recognising this, Wipro has decided to use the industrial kitchen infrastructure in our facilities to provide cooked meals, he said.

This kicked off on April 2 with the delivery of 43,000 meals from our Bangalore facility in Kodathi to the government.

"We have made use of our own procurement logistics to source the food provisions. This is a collaborative process, with the government taking responsibility for the logistics of last mile delivery to the communities that need it the most,” he said.

In the case of Bangalore, the Karnataka government has come forward to provide this kind of complementary delivery support. We are reaching out to other state governments and local administrations for similar efforts." he said.

Bengaluru, Jul 11: Amidst the mounting number of covid-19 cases, Karnataka is witnessing another disturbing trend of increasing number of people ending their life. After the lockdown was relaxed, the state saw a worrying jump in the number of suicides.

According to statistics, as many as 2,211 suicide cases have been registered in just two months. The number of suicides rose by 23% in May to 1,127, and by another 18% in June to 1,084, from an average of 912 suicides in the first three months of the year. 

In April, however, the number nearly halved to 477. But April was also the month during which the lockdown (announced on March 24) was complete, and everyone was at home -- which, experts say, could have prevented people with suicidal tendencies from taking their own lives.

Shockingly, number of teenagers including school children committing suicide also increased in the state in past couple of months.

With the pandemic still accelerating and impacting people in multiple ways, the World Health Organisation has urged people to pay greater attention to mental health and suicide prevention. 

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, World Health Organisation (WHO), South-East Asia Region, said stigma related to Covid-19 infection may lead to feelings of isolation and depression. Another precipitating factor impacting mental health amidst Covid-19 could be domestic violence, which is reported to have increased globally as several countries imposed lockdowns, she said.

“Hitting lives and livelihoods, the pandemic is causing fear, anxiety, depression and stress among people. Social distancing, isolation and coping with perpetually evolving and changing information about the virus has both triggered and aggravated existing and pre-existing mental health conditions, which need urgent attention,” she said.

Dr H Chandrashekar, professor and head of the department of psychiatry at Victoria Hospital, said reasons for suicide are always multi-factored, combined, cumulative, unresolving and interrelated.

“There is grief everywhere now due to deaths related to Covid-19, and it may have an adverse effect on some. But people should be watchful of their family members, especially those who are in depression and have a history of suicide attempts. One should never ignore signs, like when someone says they feel like ending their life. They should not be left alone, and unconditional support needs to be given. Also, objects that could be used to commit suicide must be kept away from them,” Dr Chandrashekar said.

Mangaluru, Jun 28: In an attempt to curb fast spreading Coronavirus and to bring discipline among the public to follow the guidelines and also as it was found difficult to control the visitors, the City Corporation Mayor Diwakar has ordered closure of the office for one week with immediate effect from Monday.

Public will be banned from entering the MCC building for a period of one week from Monday, he said.

In a circular the Mayor has requested the public to co-operate and help the administration to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

However, a help desk will be set up outside the MCC building where people can submit their applications and requests.