A 14-year-old girl whose father is a migrant labourer stuck in Odisha and family does not have enough to eat has been trying to help others in her neighbourhood in Howrah’s Bagnan.

Among the persons Sumana Pal helped is an elderly woman, for whom she fetched medicines, and a couple who got free ration arranged by a study centre because of her intervention.

The teenager tries to reach out to those in the neighbourhood who need help and has also coaxed her teacher into supporting such families.

The teacher, Tanmoy Patra, is paying for the ration for 100-odd families in Bagnan.

Patra, a private tutor, had founded the study centre in Bagnan, Howrah Vivekananda Siksha Kendra, for students in nearby villages who go to government schools.

Most of the families that get Patra’s help have daily wage labourers, landless farmers and van-pullers as their earning members. Some used to work in hotels in Calcutta.

“We have decided to help them for a few months because even after the lockdown is lifted, many of them would find it difficult to earn. With nothing to eat, they will be forced to make their children quit studies and send them to work. We can’t let that happen,” said Patra.

Sumana’s family — the teenager shares a one-room house with mother Anita and brother Suman, an HS examinee — is subsisting on ration provided by Siksha Kendra.

But even during the lockdown and uncertainty, Sumana visited the elderly woman to find out how she was managing.

“The aged woman lives with her son, who has some mental illness. I went to their house because I suspected they were facing some problems…. I came to know that she hadn’t been able to buy medicines to control her blood pressure,” said Sumana.

The Class IX student then called up Patra and asked for money to buy medicines.

“I did not have the money. But I arranged for it and could buy some medicines for the lady,” the teenager said.

Sumana’s father, Nitai, works at a furniture workshop in Berhampur in Odisha and is still stuck there. Her mother makes wire chains in the house and earns Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 a month.

“We don’t know when and how he will come back. The owner of the workshop is giving them food and shelter but if this continues for long, we don’t know what will happen. I have not been earning since the lockdown started,” said Anita.

Following Sumana’s requests, Vivekananda Siksha Kendra has been distributing ration to a number of families in the area. “She asked us to give them some ration because they have nothing to eat. In fact, she finds out about them and alerts us about their condition,” Patra said.

Funded by well-wishers, Siksha Kendra has distributed ration twice and the third round will start soon.

Suman and other students of the area have formed a group and are taking turns in visiting homes to distribute vegetables and groceries. “We go back to the same families to enquire how long their ration will last,” said Sumana.