Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Oct 23: As part of their campaign called the ‘Road ashram’, a three-member team reached Itanagar on Friday evening.
The trio – Siddhartha Dutta, Ahmer Siddiqui and Neha Chatturvedi – started their road campaign from New Delhi, and will travel along the borders of India, covering nearly 25,000 kms and 30 states in about 54 days in a specially modified car.
The team will interact with eminent personalities of the state to learn about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and discuss its “humanitarian impact and restrictions imposed because of social distancing,” the team members said.
The trio will visit Walong in Anjaw district, and then go to Nagaland.
“The purpose of ‘Road ashram’ is to bring attention to all these stories of people and ensure that we do not limit ourselves to measuring the impact of the pandemic to the medical crisis,” said Dutta.
“This humanitarian crisis that has surfaced will take much longer and a lot of collective will and effort to resolve, and we all will have to keep striving to find our feet back on stable ground,” he added.
“As conscientious citizens of the country, we can’t just sit and let this happen,” said Dutta, who will be navigating the routes during the trip.
“The nonprofit sector is doing whatever is possible with the available resources. But it is not enough. These organizations, especially the grassroots-level NGOs, need immediate support to continue their lifesaving work. Through the ‘Road ashram’ campaign, we wish to appeal to everyone to make generous contributions to the cause,” he said.
“The idea is to stay on the road, in our very own, personally crafted car that we have decided to call ‘Road ashram’. Through our 54-day drive on the kachcha-pucca roads on the borders, we wish to raise awareness and resources to help people facing difficulties due to the pandemic,” said Siddiqui.
The team has travelled along the China and Nepal borders in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They also went to Kolkata, where they met some non-profit organizations and eminent people of the city. In Sikkim, they met with eminent and influencing citizens, including Bhaichung Bhutia. They also went to the Bhutan border in Jaigaon, West Bengal.
The team has invited people to follow the campaign on www.roadashram.in and other social media channels. One may visit their website to know more about their cause and learn more about their epic journey.
