Pune-based Vande Mataram Sanghatana came to the rescue of a 20-year-old, resident of Meghalaya, who was caught unawares by the lockdown and was stranded in Pune for the past two months.
An ecstatic Neelakshi Bhuyan reached Shillong on Wednesday.
Bhuyan, who is a final-year BBA student at MIT University, Shillong, came to Pune to look for job opportunities. “I came to Pune in March in search of a job and was living at a guest house with a friend. When I got to know about the Covid-19 pandemic, I booked a ticket for March 28, but unfortunately, the lockdown was announced and I was stuck here.”
However, when things started to get difficult, Bhuyan contacted Sachin Jamage, state executive president of Vande Mataram Sanghatana for help. Right from giving food packets and ration to plane tickets, the Sanghatana has helped her in many ways.
“We came in contact with her 10 days ago. We enquired and verified her situation. Accordingly, we first provided her with ration as she was living alone in Chandannagar. We had been in touch with her since then. When the domestic flights resumed, she wanted to go back to Shillong and hence we booked a ticket for her. Her flight was scheduled for 2am on Tuesday. As there is no transport service available, one of our volunteers Sanchit Karve brought his car and we dropped her to Lohegaon airport,” said Jamage.
Bhuyan who lost her father four years ago said she went through a financial crunch. “My father worked in the state police department. My mother, sister and I are dependent on my father’s pension for income, so it was difficult for me to survive in Pune. I got the contact of Vande Mataram Sanghatana through social media. Sachin and his team were supportive and were in continuous touch with me during the lockdown days. They provided me with food and helped me get home,” she said.
“I had connecting flight from Pune to Delhi and then Delhi to Shillong and finally I reached here on Wednesday. Now I am in quarantine for 14 days after which I will go back home. All credit goes to Sachin and his team for helping people in distress,” said Bhuyan.
