The whole of India went to complete lock down from 25March 2020 to fight the corona pandemic. This lock down has brought about disruption in every part of the country from livelihood to mobility of people almost completely halted.
During this lock down we have seen our health professional putting their life at risk to treat people infected by the deadly virus & people have praised their work however,
We missed to acknowledge the contribution of few more heroes who are putting their life at risk so that we are not short of essential items like fruit & vegetables, medicine, groceries etc.
These people are none other than our Indian truck drivers who are working selflessly since the lock down began in March this year.
While you are reading this article in comfort of your home at this very moment there might be hundreds of truck drivers if not thousands on road moving from city to city, state to state carrying your essential items which you use on daily basis & trust me they are not making a fortune out of it.
Infact their journey to provide the essential items on time is filled with countless hardship like,
1- Risk of getting infected by covid 19
2- Harassment by police is as usual , many truck drivers in India have complained they have been beaten by the cops though vehicles carrying essential goods are allowed to move.
3- Their waiting time for loading and unloading of trucks have increased drastically due to shortage of labor in lockdown.
4- They are not sure if they will get their meal on their way since most dhabas and food malls are closed in this lock down and many have gone without food for days in order to reach on time to the destination
5- they have not been welcomed enroute by strangers to help them with food and water as each fears of getting infected
Some of the initiatives for these truck drivers in India are carried out is below but more needs to me done.
1‑Tata Motors and Indian Oil have come together to take care of our Truckers towards their immense duty and responsibility in this crisis of Covid-19 through their Saarthi Aaram Kendra
As part of the ongoing support initiative, free food, masks and sanitisers are being provided to the Truckers at 14 locations across India.
Till date a cumulative number of 3850 + truckers have been provided with “on ground support” at these 14 locations.
2‑Eicher in association with IOCL has till now offered meals & water at their pragati kendras across the country.
3‑NHAI- Highway authority have made food and water at toll plazas.
4‑Driver seva app by locus to help truck drivers find food and water availability on the go.
5-Desh ke Saarthi is helping these truck drivers to find trucking job through its platform on a pan India level.
Do not forget these truck drivers contribution in making your life less pain full in this lock down, appreciate & support them in best possible ways you can.