The headmaster of a school in North 24-Parganas, along with some ex-students, has helped provide ration to more than 150 families in nearby villages.

The initiative started by the headmaster of Kanaknagar S.D. Institution in the Sandelerbill panchayat area has targeted 21 villages — 18 in Sandelerbill and the rest in the Hingalganj panchayat area.

The beneficiaries are senior citizens living alone or families of migrant labourers stuck in other states.

One such family of five, where both the parents are confined to bed and one of the daughters is mentally ill, survives on what little two daughters earn from tailoring work. With no orders coming, all they were left with was Rs 1,500.

“The idea is to reach out to families within a 5km radius of the school. Till now we have identified 157 such families,” headmaster Pulak Roy Chowdhury said.

Roy Chowdhury sought the help of ex-students who live in the area to identify families in need and distribute 2kg potatoes, 1kg onion, 2kg daal, 1 litre oil, 1kg soybeans and biscuits to each family.

“They are getting rice and wheat from ration shops but they needed other food. We contacted the local grocers to buy the essentials,” Roy Chowdhury said.

The families were identified by three students, who are village resource persons and make door-to-door visits. “Their job is to collect data from homes to know if

anyone has Covid-like symptoms or if anyone has travelled recently,” Roy Chowdhury said.

Five hundred masks were also distributed among health workers.