Tribal village in Sambalpur contributes to PM CARES

Sambalpur: Setting an example, every household in the tribal-dominated Dangapal village in Sambalpur’s Jujumura block on Friday contributed to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund).
The villagers collected Rs 27,000 with voluntary contributions varying from Rs 2 to Rs 2,222. “The country is going through a crisis and we have certain responsibility towards the country and humanity.We know we can do very little but we can always follow the government guidelines to fight the fatal virus,” said Jayant Pradhan, a villager.
The village around 35 km from here comprises of around 300 households. Out of it, around 200 are tribal families with most depending upon farming for livelihood while some are daily-wage labourers.
The members of Utsav Parivar Social and Cultural Trust of the village took the initiative to collect the money. At least 30 members of the trust, including women visited door-to-door and collected the money. Babita Mirdha, a Plus II, who participated in the drive to collect the money, said, “Though most of the villagers are poor, none hesitated to contribute. I believe people of my village as well as others villages will come forward to contribute to the PM CARES Fund.”
Members of the trust wore masks and maintained social distancing among them while collecting the money. The money will be donated to PM CARES Fund through the Jujumura block development officer (BDO) on Saturday.
“There are more than 6 lakh villages in the country. If every village contributes at least Rs 1,000, a huge amount could be collected to combat Covid-19. We made a small effort by mobilising villagers to contribute in the fight against the invisible enemy,” said Golak Bihari Pradhan, another villager.