School on Wheels: New Initiative Starts in Odisha to Provide COVID Education, Assistance to Street Children

School on Wheels: New Initiative Starts in Odisha to Provide COVID Education, Assistance to Street Children
on Apr 27, 2021

Bhubaneswar: At this time of coronavirus crisis when the awareness on the virus and guidelines on safety are so crucial, the Tourism Finance Corporation of India Limited along with an NGO has started an initiative called ‘School on Wheels’ to provide COVID education, food, medical assistance and necessary support to street children in Bhubaneswar. The initiative is meant basically for the children living on the street. The event was inaugurated by Umasankar Das, DCP, Commissionarate Police, Bhubaneswar. Ruchika Social Welfare organisation, Childline and Commissionerate Police have jointly organised the programme. As per updates, 3 chariots were rolled in this program. Benudhar Senapati, CEO, Ruchika; Rulina Patra, Cordnator Childline and social activist Ghasiram Panda  were present during the inauguration. “In view of the pandemic situation we have planned to reach out to as many children as possible living in street situations and provide them Covid education and address emergency needs of the children including food, clothes, first-aid, medical support, counselling and other emergency services,” Senapati told a news daily. Last week, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced free COVID vaccination for everyone in the state above the age of 18. In a video message to the people of the state, Patnaik said the government will be spending Rs 2,000 crore towards vaccination of 2 crore people. “The people will not have to spend anything towards the vaccination,” Patnaik said. The development comes as the state has recorded 6,599 fresh cases pushing the total tally to 4,14,056 cases, while nine fresh fatalities pushed the coronavirus death toll to 1,997. Of the fresh cases, 3,827 were reported from quarantine centres and 2,772 detected during contact tracing. Khurda district, which comprises the state capital Bhubaneswar, recorded the highest number of new cases at 958, followed by Nuapada at 551 and Kalahandi at 518. The remaining fresh infections were registered in several other districts. Of the fresh fatalities, three were reported from Khurda, two from Keonjhar and one each from Bhadrak, Ganjam, Cuttack and Sundargarh. Odisha now has 49,075 active cases, while 3,62,931 patients have so far recovered from the disease. source: india.com