No, SDPI has not yet adopted children of migrant labor who died at railway station in Bihar
Katihar (Bihar): Reports of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) adopting the two sons of Avreena Khatoon, who died last Monday at Muzaffarpur after de-boarding a sharmik train from Ahmedabad, started doing rounds on social media groups with praises pouring in for the party for their noble gesture.
With the messages, a few pictures showing party officials sitting with the two children of the deceased woman went viral on social media.
Vartha Bharati contacted Bihar’s SDPI officials and tried to authenticate the news that was spreading like wildfire on various social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp. Upon verifying the facts it turned out the news was only partially true.
Vartha Bharati spoke to SDPI’s Bihar State President, Naseem Akhtar who confirmed that although the party had offered the family to adopt the two sons of the deceased woman, but it was not confirmed as of now and that they were in talks with the family members of the children.
Speaking to VB over a phone call, Naseem said another NGO had offered the family to adopt the elder son of the woman and to bear the expense of his education and livelihood. He added that his party has offered the family to adopt the younger of the two sons, Rahmat who is 18 months old and has requested the family to give his custody to them after which they will look after all his expenses.
“But owing to the young age of Rahmat, the family is little hesitant to give us his custody and to allow us to adopt him. However, we have now planned to pitch a new offer to the family wherein the child will stay with the family but the party will look after all his expenses and will hand over his monthly expenses to the family. We will meet the family next week and discuss this with them” Naseem said.
“Although the news doing rounds on social media is partially true but it needs to go with this clarification that it is not official yet. And we are yet to get the consent from the family” Naseem added.
“Along with this, three more migrant laborers in the state have died while returning to their home states. These cases did not come to people’s notice unlike Avreena’s case, but our party reached out to them as well and we have offered to adopt their kids as well” Naseem further told VB.
A video of Rahmat, one of the two sons of Avreena Khatoon, pulling a cloth and attempting to awaken his mother presuming that she is asleep. The video had broken onto the internet prompting people to condemn the incident. Some of the social media users had also lashed out at the authorities for failing to work in the interest of migrant laborers returning to their home states.
Although the local administration led by Katihar District Magistrate, Kanwal Tanuj met the family of Avreen Khatoon and has offered help, Naseem opined that the administration initially did not show any interest in responding to the incident or offering help to the family and kids of Avreena.
“Nobody from the administration came forward and took the accountability and met or offered help to the family initially. SDPI was one of the first responders who met the family of the deceased and chalked out a plan to help them in any way possible” Naseem said.
Vartha Bharati also tried to contact the family of the Avreena Khatoon but the family was not immediately available for a comment on the story. The story will be updated as and when we get a comment from the family.
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Akola hottest in India at 46.9 deg C; Vidarbha under grip of heat wave
Nagpur (PTI): Akola in Maharashtra has recorded the highest temperature in the country at 46.9°C, while Nagpur and several other parts of Vidarbha reeled under a severe heat wave, MeT officials said on Monday.
Heat wave conditions are expected to persist across parts of the state's Vidarbha region till Tuesday, as maximum temperatures may reach 45 to 46 degrees Celsius and touch 47 degrees Celsius at isolated locations, they said.
On Sunday, Akola recorded 46.9 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature in the country, followed by Amravati at 46.8 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department's Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Nagpur.
Wardha sizzled at 46.4 degrees Celsius, Yavatmal logged 46 degrees Celsius, Nagpur scorched at 45.4 degrees Celsius, while Chandrapur recorded 45 degrees Celsius, as per the data.
Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Yavatmal, Chandrapur and Nagpur experienced heat wave conditions, while several other districts reported above-normal temperatures, RMC scientist Dr Praveen Kumar told PTI.
The prevailing above-normal and persistently high temperatures over Vidarbha can be attributed to an anticyclonic circulation over Maharashtra and adjoining areas. At the same time, hot and dry northwesterly winds have been continuously affecting the region, he said.
In addition, weak western disturbances and the absence of moisture incursion or any significant weather systems have contributed to the intensification of heat over the region, the official said.
As per the Met department, heat wave conditions are likely to continue at a few or isolated places over the region till Tuesday.
The IMD has issued an 'orange' alert for Akola, Amravati and Wardha and a 'yellow' alert for Nagpur, Chandrapur and Yavatmal for Tuesday, saying that the maximum temperatures are likely to reach 45 to 46 deg C and possibly up to 47 deg C at isolated locations.
A relief from the heat wave is expected thereafter and the mercury is likely to dip by 2 to 3 deg C, with the possibility of rainfall and gusty winds in the coming days, it added.
The IMD grades the severity of any weather system through colour-coded alerts – green (no warning), yellow (be aware), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).
