Our Correspondent
KOKRAJHAR: The chief of BTC, Hagrama Mohilary said that the council would distribute ration to poor people who are staying at home due to the ongoing countrywide 21-day lockdown.
Talking to reporters at Kokrajhar on Wednesday, Mohilary said people, especially the poor, could face problems buying essential commodities during the lockdown for want of money. He said the BTC would distribute 25 kg rice, 2 kg dal and half litre mustard oil to each family through village headmen and the same would be distributed from house-to-house. He said the ration would be distributed among all BPL families and poor families who have no ration cards. There were over 9,64,000 BPL families in the BTC districts as per the 2011 census and his council will distribute free ration to over 5 lakh families during the ongoing lockdown on humanitarian ground, he said, adding that apart from rice, dal and mustard oil, the BTC would distribute 10 lakh masks and 10 lakh sanitary napkins to the people of the region as counter measures against the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
Mohilary welcomed the announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi extending the countrywide lockdown to 21 days and called upon people of BTC region to abide by the advisory and stay home. He said that the only way to prevent this viral disease was to stay at home and to maintain social distancing.
Meanwhile, Kokrajhar town was totally deserted on the first day of the lockdown. All kinds of vehicles were off the road while all business establishments and shops were totally closed, other than pharmacies and grocery shops.