All of us are going through an unprecedented time. The second wave of Covid19 has thrown new challenges upon us. Everyday lots of people are losing their lives due lack of basic medical facilities and scarcity of beds in the hospital. At this hour of crisis, a little help from a good samaritan can save lives and bring back smiles on fear-ridden faces. This is a battle and everyone must play their part for the final victory.
With their contributions, people like IPS officer Quaiser Khalid are not only becoming messiah for many but also inspiring others to join this wagon of kindness.
In conversation with Indian Masterminds, the Inspector General of Police (Training) in Maharashtra Mr. Khalid talked about his initiative of providing food to the needy by installing community fridges.
Food with Dignity
Apart from being an IPS officer, Mr. Khalid is also a well-known poet and `shayar’. Till now, Mr. Khalid has organised more than 100 shows dedicated to poetry, shayari and literature. Two of the poetry and `shayari’ events conceived by him, ‘Pasbaan-e-adab’ and ‘Jashn-e-adab’, have become hugely popular. Now, through his NGO Pasbaan-e-Adab, he is distributing 30,000 food packets every day. For this, he has installed refrigerators in the areas which have population of marginalised people.
Talking about this, he said, “In the second wave of Covid-19 crisis, the challenges have changed. Last year when people lost their jobs and were moving towards their hometown, the biggest challenge was to help them with food. They were struggling for that basic necessity also. With the second wave hitting the nation, in Maharashtra as well as several other places, the challenges have increased. The economic condition of people only worsened and now, along with food, basic medical facilities to them also became a matter of concern. So, our team at Pasban-e-Adab decided to do our bit for humanity”.
Mr. Khalid very well understands the sentiment and self-respect of working class man. They might starve but they normally will shun from seeking help. So his idea was to provide the ‘food with dignity’, a system where no one has to ask for anything. The needy could take what he needs.
Tied Up With Hotels
The team of Pasbaan-e-Adab have installed four large size community fridges and tied-up with several hotels. They also roped in many houses and ask them to put the leftovers in the fridges rather than dumping these into the dustbins. The team ensuring that the refrigerators never remained empty. The fridge were installed during December- January. Now, with announcement of lockdown the hotels are closed again but their work hasn’t stopped. They are preparing food items and filling up the fridges.
“When the situation normalises, we will install many such fridges. We have tied-up with various NGOs for this venture. Apart from the fridges, the drive for distribution of dry ration and food is going same as last year. Every day we aim to distribute at least 30k packets of food amongst the needy,’’ said Mr. Khalid.
Free oxygen cylinders
The officer has also took an initiative of providing oxygen cylinders to the relatives of the covid-19 patients. They are arranging cylinders with help of individuals and NGOs. Anyone in need of the cylinder can contact him or Pasbaan-e-Adab and get the new cylinder or a refill. The facility is free, and the relatives only have to come and take the cylinders on their own.
