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Chandigarh: With nothing to eat, hunger more dangerous than coronavirus

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Manjeet Sehgal
March 26, 2020

In many parts of Chandigarh, the supplies of the essential items are either erratic or unavailable.

A 21-day lockdown in the country was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in the wake of the novel coronavirus, or Covid-19, outbreak.

According to Centre's guidelines on the measures to be taken by ministries and departments of Government of India, and state and Union Territory (UT) governments for containment of the novel coronavirus, commercial and private establishments were shut but with a few exceptions.

Shops, including ration shops, dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal fodder came under the mentioned exceptions.

But, the situation in many parts of Chandigarh is nothing short of a famine. Essential supplies in Chandigarh are inconsistent and sometimes just unavailable.

While the state governments claimed they were planning to to ensure door-to-door deliveries of the essential items, a realty check done by India Today in some parts of Chandigarh proved the ground reality was entirely different.

The situation on ground has exposed the working of the local administration as the people struggle to get the promised rations.

Despite the assurances given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the grocery shops will continue to open in the country, in Chandigarh, the police did not let the people open the shops after the administration announced it will provide essential items door-to-door.

While novel coronavirus pandemic has already hit jobs of people, the callous attitude of the authorities has only added insult to the injury.

The Chandigarh Police was spotted beating up people who are running from pillar to post to buy rations. To add to the miseries, the grocery shop owners were too seen exploiting the people in need by overcharging them.

The poor and underprivileged in Chandhigarh are of the view that 'hunger will kill them before coronavirus does'.

Jyoti Devi, a Chandigarh resident whose husband is ill, told India Today that she has no money to buy food or medicines for her family of five.

"We do not have anything to eat. Coronavirus will kill us late,r but I think many will die of hunger first," she said.

Another resident of Chandigarh, Rajbala, whose husband is a rickshaw puller, said the curfew has brought life to a standstill. Her husband is out of job now and there is an extreme dearth of money in the family.

"The local grocery shop owners are exploiting the situation by increasing the prices of essential items. A bag of flour [five kg] is being sold at Rs 100, much higher than it was sold earlier. I am left with just Rs 20 left just twenty rupees. With that, I sent my husband to buy some milk for the family but on his way, he was thrashed by the police and returned home empty-handed," she told India Today.

Rajbala's 10-year-old daughter Tamanna and three-year-old son Vasu were seen pleading the police on camera 'not to beat their father', and how they 'need some food to eat'.

Another Chandigarh resident Meena's husband is also an autorickshaw driver.

Her family is left with just a bag of flour. They cannot go to buy anything anymore. They want to go back to their ancestral village but the situation is not favourable.

Another auto rickshaw puller's wife Sangeeta said the ration stock left with them can prepare food for three to four days maximum.

We met one Nipun who was among the 70 people who were given permits on Tuesday to deliver rations from door-to-door.

Nipun told India Today many like him got the permits for delivery but the police asked them to go back.

"We were issued the permits by the municipal corporation but when we went to buy the stocks at the grain market, the police asked us to go back. How can we provide the rations door-to-door now? Only god knows," Nipun said.

Goldy, who works as a security guard in a hospital, shared his encounter with the police. He said police officials did not allow him to enter the hospital where he works on the second day of the curfew.

"If police do not want to let us enter the hospitals then they should take up our jobs. We should be relived and the police should take care of the patients," Goldy said.

The situation in Chandigarh seems to worsening with each passing day. Within two days of curfew, people are running out food and other necessary things to survive, as they stare at a bleak future with 18 more days to go during the lockdown.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...er-ration-police-brutality-1660032-2020-03-26
 
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