RSS offshoot reaches out to Muslims in times of need

QUOTE: “Sewa Bharati is playing a major role in providing relief to the needy not only in the UT of J&K but also in the UT of Ladakh. We were the first to start the relief material distribution among the affected people, including labourers from various states, in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” Brig Suchet Singh, RSS leader

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 15

As the lockdown has hit hard the life of the poor and the marginalised, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has come forward to help the needy.

Keeping in view the demand of people, RSS offshoot — ‘Sewa Bharati’ — has set up 663 centres, over 100 in Muslim-majority areas across J&K, to distribute cooked food, ration and essentials to break all stereotypes.

Not only in the Jammu province, but Sewa Bharati has also opened its centres in the Kashmir valley to provide every possible help to those in need.

“Whether it was the earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir, floods in Kashmir or the cloudburst in Ladakh, the RSS has always rendered its services to people. The country is facing hardships due to COVID-19 and Jammu and Kashmir has also been affected,” said Brig Suchet Singh, RSS leader.

He said the RSS workers were helping the poor and needy in this hour of crisis without discriminating on the basis of cast, creed, culture and religion.

From the first day of the lockdown, the Sangh Parivar has been involved in relief distribution work.

“Sewa Bharati is playing a major role in providing relief to the needy not only in the UT of J&K but also in the UT of Ladakh. We were the first to start the relief material distribution among the affected people, including labourers from various states, in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” he said.

He said 3,000 RSS workers were serving the needy families by distributing relief material in J&K and Ladakh.

Sewa Bharati has also sanitised nearly 2,000 places in the city and various rural areas. It has also sanitised schools and religious places and distributed around 5,000 packets of cooked food among the affected families.

The organisation is making 2,000 facemasks daily at its various facilities. It is also taking care of 3,000 security forces personnel deployed at various places by providing them tea, juice and biscuits daily.

Another RSS leader Goutam Mengi said a helpline desk had been established in every district of the UT for the convenience of people by Sewa Bharati.