Pune: Organisation conducts relief work, counsels villagers, govt officials in Velhe during the lockdown

Pune: Organisation conducts relief work, counsels villagers, govt officials in Velhe during the lockdown

Pune: Following the spread of coronavirus, amid the nationwide lockdown, the government officials, at different levels, have borne the maximum responsibility of regulating the situation and ensuring stability in these uncertain times.

Aiding the efforts, Raintree Foundation has been carrying out Covid-19 relief work in the remote and rural taluka of Velhe. The Foundation has been offering counsel to not just villagers, but also the government officials there through their unique initiative. 

So far, the Foundation has called up and listened to issues faced by 85 government officials in the taluka and continues to do so regularly.

The Foundation is also trying to connect with the Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) to extend such support to more areas in the district.

The rural communities living in Velhe in Pune district were one of the earliest to be severely affected by the pandemic. They were experiencing distress with the shortage of food, loss of income and large-scale reverse migration increasing the stress on local resources.

“We have worked in these villages before. As the lockdown began, and cases were found in the taluka, we focused on the relief work here. We had first started our helpline for the general people, but then we realised that the government officials working under immense stress needed our support too,” Manjeet Varerkar of Raintree Foundation told Sakal Times.

Through this initiative, the Foundation has reached out to the ASHA workers, gram sevaks, gram panchayat employees, police patils and others working day and night for Covid-19 relief work in the area.

“Most of the government officials that we spoke with have reported similar concerns. One of the biggest is higher levels of general anxiety and stress. Further, they also fear of catching the infection because they are working on the frontline, which involves interacting with several people,” Varerkar said.

Varerkar also added that several people, who are away from their homes for work, are anxious about their families and loved ones in the lockdown.

However, Varerkar also stated that the officials were touched at this support from the Foundation. “We called them proactively and listened to them. We have also increased the number of counsellors,” he said.

Tehsildar and Taluka Disaster Management Authority Velhe President Shivaji Shinde expressed his gratitude. “The Foundation started the helpline for counselling villagers, wherein they spoke to over 600 people to clear their doubts and guide them on physical and mental well-being during the lockdown,” said Shinde.

“Apart from that, they also individually called and counselled 85 of the government officials, and supported us through these tough times,” Shinde added.

“Mental health care is the need of the hour as we have seen an unprecedented rise in stress and anxiety across the population, especially the frontline workers who are working tirelessly for our safety. We hope our counselling and helpline services can offer some respite and provide the necessary support during this difficult time,” said Raintree Foundation Founder Leena Dandekar.

The Foundation has also roped in help from Well-being Volunteers united for the counselling helplines.

Raintree Foundation has provided over 261 dry ration kits to distressed families in the region. It has also created community WhatsApp groups to address the spread of false news and disinformation while ensuring that the villagers receive official news and information as well as tips on coping mechanisms to deal with the crisis.

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