Uttar Pradesh: Priyanka Gandhi sends help directly to children without milk, hapless father in Muzaffarnagar

In Meerapur town of Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, the Congress General Secretary in charge of Eastern UP Priyanka Gandhi sent help directly to the needy family after reading a news report of the plight of a child not being able to get milk. With this timely help the family was not only relieved but the baby’s mother Firdaus was also overwhelmed and had tears in her eyes. The story of the problems Shakib’s family had been facing was published on a news website and It was tweeted to the UP Congress.

It is important to mention here that the story of a helpless family in Namak Mandi area of Meerapur town was published on Tuesday with the headline ‘My two-and-a-half-month old baby cries in hunger, haven’t seen a single fruit in Iftar’.

After this report was published on May 3, many people came forward with the intention to help this family. After Priyanka Gandhi took notice of this story, the Congress workers reached the family to help them on Thursday

The head of this family, Shakib worked as a waiter in a dhaba and earned rupees 330 daily. Due to the lockdown for past one and a half months, this dhaba has also shut shop. As a result the family was going through a tough patch.

They have a small two and a half month old baby to fend for too. According to Shakib’s wife Firdaus, they were not even able to buy fruits for Iftar and milk for the baby.

Shakib who was desperate and deeply distressed wasn’t even able to get a loan. Shakib had revealed that his family had been surviving on salty rice for a week and just rotis for another week. A website published the pain and hardships Shakib’s family was going through. After its publication, a user Nasir Mirza of Aligarh tweeted it to the UP Congress.

And this is how the Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi took notice of it. She asked the reporter of the website for their address and the matter was discussed with the Congress unit of Muzaffarnagar. On Thursday the required help reached this family. According to Mohit Pandey, in charge of social media wing of the Congress and former president of JNU, Priyanka Didi told us to provide help to this family. Immediately the Congress chief of the Muzaffarnagar wing Junaid Rauf was contacted and issued the required instructions.

Junaid Rauf sent an old Congress worker of Meerapur Tariq Siddiqui to help this family. Tariq reached this family on Wednesday and told them how Priyanka Gandhi has taken notice of their hardships. Later essential ration, dry fruits, fruits etc were given to Shakib’s family. Shakib revealed that he had received a call from the Congress office on Tuesday. And on Thursday they received the help.

Relief and smile have returned to Shakib and his family and they expressed their gratitude to Priyanka Gandhi.

According to Shakib, he had lost hope that anyone would help but anything can happen in this world today. His wife was happy about the fact that her baby now will not cry in hunger for milk.

Shakib has three children. He used to paint houses in Rishikesh but returned to Meerapur last year. His children’s education has also been discontinued as a result. This being the holy month of Ramzan, when Shakib could not manage to bring fruits etc for Iftar, his children used to start crying due to hunger.

After the report of his plight was published, some other people too came forward to help him. But Priyanka Gandh,i taking a keen interest in helping this family came as a pleasant feeling.

Junaid Rauf, President of Muzaffarnagar Congress, said that he got a call from the Congress office on Wednesday night that 'Didi' ( Priyanka Gandhi is now called by the Congress workers by the same name) wants to provide immediate help to the family. At times, proud and self respecting people find it difficult to share their problems even with the neighbours. Shakib’s neighbours also came to know about it when the report was published.

Shakib’s neighbour Jaan Mohammad also lauded Priyanka Gandhi for this. He said that at such a difficult time when the poor people of the entire country are struggling with similar problems, this level of sympathy and help proves that she is genuinely concerned about the welfare of the poor and needy. “We did not know about their condition despite being their neighbours, but she immediately came forward to help them.”

Tariq Siddiqui who arrived there with the help said, “it’s a very good feeling. I have been in the Congress for the last 35 years but no major leader has monitored the situation so closely. Thanks to Priyanka Gandhi ji. The Conngress has not remained this active and we faced the damage. But Priyanka Gandhi’s style of working is different.”

With the aim to help families in desperate need of assistance and help in these trying times, on the instructions of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Congress has now issued a helpline UP Mitra in Uttar Pradesh for the people who need help or for migrant workers who are trapped away from home.