COVID-19 : ‘From Shanti Niketan With Love’ campaign gains momentum

New Delhi: The Shanti Niketan Resident Association (SNRA) under its initiative "From Shanti Niketan With Love" has contributed ration and hygiene equipment including masks, soaps and hand sanitizers for over 200 families staying in their neighbouring Shastri Market, which was sealed off as a COVID-19 containment hot zone here on Sunday.

This ongoing campaign, which will feed each family for at least a month, aims at alleviating the difficulty of people, many of whom were daily wage earners and are not able to earn a livelihood due to the current lockdown amidst the pandemic, which has infected millions around the world and thousands in India.

A resident, Amit Luthra (Asiad Gold Medallist & Arjun Awardee) thanked Jagdeep Rikhey, President, SNRA, without whose involvement this crusade would not have seen the light of the day.

“When we decided to assist our fellow citizens in Shastri Market in their hour of need, our residents really stepped up. They dug deep and overwhelmed us with their generosity. As a result this is the second round of our distribution of ration to this containment zone. We are encouraged by the presence of our dynamic Member of Parliament from New Delhi constituency, Mrs Meenakshi Lekhi and are grateful not only for her presence and her assistance in this endeavour, but for all the humanitarian work she has undertaken during this crisis to ensure members of her constituency are safe and well,” said Luthra.

The irony of the situation is that Shastri Market area contains a vegetable and fruit market, which used to feed this locality in good times and today the roles have reversed.

Luthra thanked the local area SHO, Paras Nath Verma and MCD Councilor Manish Aggarwal for all their assistance. He also mentioned that From Shanti Niketan With Love campaign was driven by a few compassionate residents along with philanthropist Deepak Dhawan and Spiritual Life Coach Dr. Meena Mahajan of Siddhi Foundation, who are doing tremendous relief work and also contributed to this program. 

Shanti Niketan is an exclusive housing colony in the very heart of New Delhi. It was developed in the 1960s as a Cooperative Housing Colony for senior Government officials and currently houses families of Government officials, senior executives, industrialists and diplomats.