Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara : Ramdeo, a rickshawpuller, had to enact a drama of being dead, to feed his family during the COVID 19 pandemic. Ramdeo of Bihia earned his livelihood by pulling rickshaw at Ara, headquarters of Bhojpur district, but due to lockdown, unlockdown and further lockdown brought him and his family members on the verge of starvation.
Ramdeo said that during lockdown people are restricted to come out of their houses and so very few persons hired rickshaws. He said he and his family members were starving for days together and finding no way out, he enacted a drama and lying on the road wearing shroud and putting garlands on his body. He also burnt Agarbatti beside his body near D T Road, Ara. Seeing the body, some soft kindhearted persons put money on it and when he earned some money this way, he woke up and purchased food for himself and his family. He said that he believed in earning through hard labour but the present situation is different.
This event belies the tall claims of the State and the Central governments of distributing foodgrains among the poor free of cost. Ramdeo said that he did not know as to when the governments gave foodgrains. He added and he and others like him are struggling even today to earn two square meal a day.