GUWAHATI, April 6 - City-based NGO Development Concern Intl (DCI) has, under its humanitarian support programme, taken up distribution of pre-packed food packets in phases among needy and destitute people across various locations of Guwahati to help them tide over the crisis faced on account of the ongoing nationwide lockdown and loss of income.
The distribution has been carried out with permission and assistance from Assam Police.
As part of the programme, around 40 destitute persons were provided with food packets and PET water bottles and also had their hands sanitised during the first phase of the drive carried out in the city on Sunday.
Among the localities covered were Hatigaon, Dispur, Ganeshguri, Christian Basti, Bhangagarh, Sarabhati and Fatasil Ambari.
�Despite India�s self-sufficiency in grain production in recent years, poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition still persist. One fourth of the world�s malnourished people live in India. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has only heightened malnourishment. A lockdown of any kind has the capacity to push destitute persons and those in need of food support into oblivion. Destitute persons lack shelter, basic amenities and social security schemes. Nutrition, being an all-time requirement, is most affected during such lockdowns,� said Afreed Islam, humanitarian support officer with Development Concern Intl. � Staff Reporter
