Khalsa Aid collects funds for flood-affected victims

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 25

Ever since the flood affected various areas of Kerala and relief was being sought from across the country, volunteers of Khalsa Aid, a voluntary-aid organisation, have been visiting city streets morning and evening, seeking help and donations for the disaster-hit state.

Groups of men can be seen at the Model Town Market, Jyoti Chowk and a host of other areas in the city carrying pamphlets with pictures of the relief efforts in Kerala in their hands and exhorting the local populace to help for the cause. Another group of volunteers approached cars and vehicles till late night at the BMC Chowk for help. For the Khalsa Aid volunteers, this has been a daily routine ever since Kerala was hit by the floods.

As many as 65 to 70 volunteers of the organisation in Jalandhar have been following the same schedule for the past over a week — visiting two to three areas and staying in each place for over a couple of hours and seek help for the cause.

Even in Kerala, everyday, a team of Khalsa Aid, including 18 to 20 persons, has also been disbursing langar to 15,000 persons – per day in Kerala. It also includes two volunteers Jaspreet Dahia from Jalandhar and Naval Singh from Bhogpur who are currently working there. The team has also put six donation boxes at various spots in the district, where people can make donations through cash and cheques.

Tejinder Pal Singh, a Jalandhar-based volunteer of the organisation, who was also among the team collecting relief in the city for the past few days, said: “Our volunteers there start at 5 in the morning and continue til late at night. There are 18 to 20 persons divided in teams of two per camp. While the rain has subsided, houses are steeped in slush and most of the people can’t go there in such a situation. As long as they are staying at the camps, the relief work will be continued.”

“While our relief works here will end on Sunday which is the last day for the collection of donations, after that we will act as per orders from the Khalsa Aid headquarters,” he said.

Khalsa Aid has also been asked to send a team for the Amarnath Yatra which will be heading there in a couple of days. For those in the city willing to help the organisation can contact Tejinder Pal Singh at 9888890882.

In Urban Estate today 

While Khalsa Aid teams also received calls from various city colleges as well, with students interested to chip in, on Sunday, they will be collecting funds from two places – House No. 61 at Model Town in Jalandhar and Hotel Garden Estate at Urban Estate, Phase II. Sunday will be the last day of its relief operations in the city for the flood-ravaged state.