A group of college and high school students in Metiabruz have come together to raise funds from friends and family and reach out to neighbours who have been going hungry during the lockdown.

The experience of going into the interiors of Metiabruz has been an eye-opener for the students as they came across malnourished children, adults living on biscuits and water for days and elderly people with no money to buy regular medicines.

The Metiabruz Youth have reached out to 1,300 families over the past fortnight, giving each of them 5kg rice, 2kg wheat, 500gm dal, 2kg potatoes, 1kg onion, 2 packets of instant noodles, 1 bar of soap, 1 packet of oil and 1kg salt. Many broke down on receiving the kits.

“What we are doing is a drop in the ocean. The poor are suffering and even if we can reach to a few, we should do it,” said Noor Mahvish, a second-year law student.

Every evening, the group draws up a list of people who need help. “We have tried to help people who have received no ration,” Noor said.

The group has also visited lower middle-class homes who are embarrassed to stand in queue to accept ration but are nearly starving because they have no livelihood. They met a “chacha” who has a roadside food cart and lives with his wife and two daughters and a widow who works as a house help and lives with an 18-year-old daughter.

“Chacha started crying. This is why we don’t want to take photographs while we are distributing the ration because we do not want to embarrass them,” Noor said.

“The daughter of the help had a stove accident and suffered burns before the lockdown. Her mother was also injured trying to save her. they had no food for four days,” said Asif Ali, a graduate.

The boys and girls have approached their friends and families for help, even pleading with them in some cases.

“Nobody refused. People gave us anything from Rs 100 to Rs 5,000. Some gave us a bottle of oil or some rice or even potatoes, whatever they could spare,” Asif said.

The group has also appealed for help on social media.