Ranchi: About 12 kilometres from Ranchi, in the Indian state of Jharkhand, in the direction of the Dhurwa Dam, a number of people live in zopadpatties and jhuggis which are generally describe as slums. Most of these are daily wage earners who depend for their survival on the employment they receive daily.
The COVID pandemic with the accompanying lockdowns have hit them very hard. Many of them are migrants and are not able to provide for their families. Kuldeep Tirkey, the president of the Ranchi Catholic Youth came to know about their plight and approached Archbishop Felix Toppo SJ and Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas SFX and requested for the help for these people.
Today (26th June) the Ranchi Catholic Youth under the leadership of the two Bishops distributed food rations for two weeks to over 300 families in three different points of the slums. Tirkey introduced the food distribution programme in each of the three places and thanked the Bishops for caring for the poor. He said the Catholic Youth were happy to receive guidance in compassion and charity from the Bishops. Bishop Theodore thanked the youth for their hearts being tuned to the needs of the poor, the marginalized and the underprivileged. He emphasised that this was not a sarkari ration but the gift of the Catholic Church. This gift has been made possible because generous donations and support from good people who themselves sacrifice in order to help us. He asked the people to pray for benefactors and well wishers.
Archbishop Felix Toppo SJ prayed over the food materials. He thanked God for his goodness to us and asked for the grace of the Almighty that “we may be able to love each other, serve each other and live in harmony with each other.” The food provisions were packed by the Nazareth Sisters and their candidates. Those who participated in the distribution included Br. Amit Dungdung, Br. Sumit Bara, Br. Nikhil Kujur, Kuldeep Tirkey, Roshan Masih, Jayant Toppo, Louis Bara, Wilson, Amardeep Kerketta, Alvin Lakra, Mayank Tigga, Ravi Tirkey, Wilson tirkey, Naval Tigga, and Xavier Lakra.