The nationwide lockdown that has left daily wage earners without a source of livelihood has prompted Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra to do her bit for Jamshedpur, her place of birth.
Munnu Akhouri, 55, Priyanka’s aunt and a resident of M-Type area in Adityapur, has been distributing bagfuls of rice and potato to the needy.
On Thursday morning, around 100 women had turned up outside her house to collect the food items. Akhouri said she was distributing the rice and potato among the poor women on behalf of Priyanka and her cousins, all of whom live in the US.
“Priyanka has sent me money and asked me to distribute rice and potato to those who are out of work and fighting hunger. I have bought two tonnes of rice and one tonne of potato to begin with,” said Akhouri, Priyanka’s maternal aunt. “Having felt for the people in distress here, my nephews and nieces pooled in money and sent it to me for purchasing food items and distributing them among the poor.
“We had informed people in around half-a-dozen slums in Adityapur about the distribution. People started thronging the ground near my house from Thursday morning. Suddenly, a group of women from a slum called Rambadhaiya Bustee turned up at the spot and broke the queue, leading to a lot of chaos. Police had to intervene and stop the distribution,” Akhouri said.
She said she would now give the supplies to the mukhiyas who would distribute it to the slum residents.