Srinagar: Prominent social worker and Aash chairperson Qurat ul-ainn Masoodi today raised questions on administrative bodies regarding the involvement of NGOs in distributing materials amidst lockdown. Administration no doubt is working round the clock to controll the spread specially our DC Shahid Iqbal and is leaving no stone unturned to contain the virus but I think that for today’s incident where head of a NGO was tested positive, administration is to be held responsible. It is the responsibility of the governing bodies to ensure the safety of public, so I believe that if administration is involving any NGO, they should make sure that these volunteers are donned in PPE and get tested first and only then should they be allowed to help on ground. Otherwise they can help by collecting and distributing financial aids to the needy people while staying at home.
Whole world today knows that covid-19 is a highly contagious disease even if the mortality rate is quite below the infection rate. And once infected the person acts as a carrier of disease and makes a lot of people to fall prey to it while still showing no symptoms. So people should tread carefully and responsibly as even a slight lapse of preventive measures on our side is surely going to cost a lot of lives. In case of this NGO head who was tested positive for covid-19 and was highly active in supplying door to door servicers, now we don’t know what is in store for us in coming days and how many people have contracted this virus from him and to how many more would they spread this disease.
I wonder why this person, who is under the delusion that by helping the downtrodden amidst current crisis he’s acting as a responsible person of the society is withholding information regarding his travel. Why don’t people understand that they are endangering not only their lives but the entire society with these high risk endeavours like food kit distribution scheme as the virus can sustain on the food packets for three days. We should leave these task to the people who are better equipped than us when it comes to limiting the spread of this contagion. Using these schemes and providing help in this manner is proving to be counter effective as is clear by this new case.
Administration should also be stringent with NGOs who want to help. And I am appealing the administration that they should test such persons and if the reports are negative then and then only should they be given permission for helping. Otherwise we are just going to make situation worse for us to handle. The current situation is way more challenging than initially interpreted and every step should be taken with utmost care.
I myself am a NGO head, working on a tight schedule in present times, for the betterment of downtrodden people but not at the cost of lives of other people. I abide by the government orders and hence am currently working from home. In times like this we have to get our priorities straight and to contain this virus should top the list of each one of us.
It has been my stand from day one as l have been shouting and appealing to the NGOs to act responsiblly because if a person doesn’t take necessary precautions then irrespective of what their intentions are they are doing bad for the society and will be remembered for that only. So if you don’t belong to essential services, yet want to contribute towards this cause then be wise and act maturely by doing it from the safety of your home.
I leave it for you to decide whether you want to be a COVIDIOT and wash down the drain all efforts made by our essential service providers or you want to respect their efforts by staying home.
Aash chairperson says first test than rest
