During the nearly two-month lockdown aimed at breaking the rapid spread of the coronavirus, a Maharashtra-based Education society “Yateem Khana and Madarasa Anjuman- E-Khairul Islam” Mumbai, came out to feed their students and the students’ families. They successfully distributed around 5000 monthly ration kits in Mumbai and the Mahabaleshwar hill station. The NGO also provided 60 tons of fodder to horses, ponies, cows and camels in the hill station.
Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari took notice of the education society’s services and invited its members and teachers, and felicitated them.
“Fear of corona infection and lockdown had locked the daily wages of the people because all the breadwinning members were at home. Our thousands of students are from the working-class, their suffering appealed us to come out with relief work,” Hani Farid, General Secretary of Anjuman-E-Khairul Islam told Muslim Mirror.
Farid added that the kit consisted of grocery items that would suffice a family of four, for a month.
Shabana Shaikh, the Head Mistress of Anjuman- E-Khairul Islam High School said “We had distributed around 2000 kits to our school students and other needy people like tourist guides, taxi drivers etc. Our city is a famous hill station, wherein animals like horses are used for tourist and transport purpose but during the lockdown, these animals were equally battling with food shortage. Thanks to our society people for arranging fodder for them.”
The society has spent more than 30 lakh rupees for this noble cause by raising funds from its members and well-wishers, Muslim Mirror reported.
According to school teachers- Ziyauddin Momin and Rehan Ansari, “tracing addresses of 3000 students in Mumbai city was a challenging job but teamwork, dedication and hard work of teachers and management made it possible.”
President of Horse and Pony Association, Sayaray Javed Kharkhande and other members thanked Anjuman- E-Khairul Islam through a letter, for feeding their 147 horses during the lockdown. They said that AKI’s humanitarian deed will be remembered.
Anjuman- E-Khairul Islam was established in 1927, it has 37 primary and high schools (Urdu Medium), 9 colleges and 4 orphanages at various parts of the state, nearly 22000 students and 700 orphans are benefitting from their services.
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Rushda Fathima Khan is the Staff Reporter for The Cognate.