The Indian Weekender, Friday 21 August 2020

8 NEW ZEALAND
Friday, August 21, 2020
The Indian Weekender
Indian High Commission gives Certificates
of Appreciation to mark support provided
to communities during the lockdown
RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
The Indian High Commission has on the
occasion of 74th Indian Independence
Day acknowledged and felicitated
nine individuals and organisations for their
exceptional contributions towards stranded
Indian nationals and temporary migrant
workers out of resources during the first Alert
Level 4 lockdown in the country.
The names were announced and presented
certificates at the Independence Day celebration
event under Alert Level 2 in at Bharat Bhawan
in Wellington on Saturday, August 15.
Prominent charitable organisations such as
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Supreme Sikh
Society of New Zealand, Ekta Foundation, Jeet
Suchdev of Bhartiya samaj Charitable trust,
along with noted individuals within community
such as Mahesh Ranchhod, Monty Patel,
Prithipal Singh Basra, , and Dr Vikas Sethi
from Prana Health were amongst those who
received the certificate of appreciation.
During the national lockdown in New
Zealand earlier this year, approximately,
3000 Indian nationals, who had come to
NZ for tourism, visiting their families, for
business, and temporary workers were left
stranded without many financial resources to
support themselves.
The issues then ranged from running out
of money to pay necessary living expenses
and bills, people having medical conditions
and ran out of their prescriptions, there a few
bereavements, the mortal remains of whom had
to be sent back home (India), and many were
desperate to be able to return to their homes
and families.
In such times, the High Commission of
India assured to help the needy with essentials,
accommodation, food up until a repatriation
flight was organised to take those stranded
nationals back home.
In this endeavour, several Indian community
organisations and individuals came forward
offering money, food, shelter, medicines, and
some even to transport essentials to the doors
of the needy individuals and families.
“Many volunteered to deliver food, medicines
and other essentials to their doorsteps, doctors
offered their services free of charge, and It
was a collective victory of the human spirit,”
Indian High Commissioner Muktesh Pardeshi
said at the felicitation ceremony in Wellington
last weekend.
“It is obviously not possible for us to name all
those who came forward to help, but we have
identified nine organisations and individuals,
the ‘Navratnas’, who rendered yeoman’s
service to the stranded Indians and we recognise
their contribution by way of ‘Certificates of
Appreciation’,” Mr Pardeshi added.
The recipients were:
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha
BAPS Swaminarayan has always been
proactive in helping the communities, and
apart from providing spiritual succour in these
stressful times (lockdown), they gave 50 kits
of food items and other basic needs to High
Commission of India for distribution in the
Wellington area and 100 kits to our Honorary
Consul in Auckland for distribution in the
larger Auckland area.
Ekta Foundation
Ekta NZ has been at the forefront in helping
the homeless and the deprived with
RIZWAN MOHAMMAD
Fate took a drastic turn for a
young migrant couple living in
New Zealand when the wife of a
migrant worker got hospitalised due to a
terminal illness and husband left work to
be by her side during the last days of his
sick partner.
A 31-year-old woman temporary
migrant worker from India, Manwinder
Kaur died in Auckland last week ending
her four months trial with blood cancer.
Community mourned the loss of a
young life to Leukaemia, who worked
as a healthcare professional in an
Auckland company.
Manwinder was diagnosed with the
illness earlier in April this year and spent
her last days in Auckland Hospital with
her husband, Gagandeep Singh by her
community kitchens, distribution of clothes and
in so many other ways.
They closely coordinated with High
Commission of India in reaching out and helping
stranded Indians in the larger Wellington area.
Jeet Suchdev
President of Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust
from Auckland has been the voice of ethnic
senior citizens for more than two decades.
During the first lockdown, he provided every
possible assistance to HCI and Consulate in
Auckland with the stranded Indians and while
seeing them off from Auckland airport.
Mahesh Ranchhod
Mahesh Ranchhod comes from a family
with a long history of philanthropy,
which firmly believes in giving back to society.
A flourishing businessman who came together
with Honorary Consul in Auckland to provide
food and other basic needs to the stranded
community.
Bhav Dhillon
Honorary Consul of India, Bhav Dhillon led
the mission in Auckland dedicating not
just his time and but also resources, directing and
side.
Manwinder hailed from Kotkapura
district of Punjab, India and got married
to Gagandeep in 2015.
She was on Essential Skills Work Visa
in New Zealand and the couple visited
by their in-laws earlier in 2019.
Being the only family member to his
sick wife here in Auckland, Gagandeep
left work supporting her with hospital
visits, medications and taking care
of Manwinder.
Adding to the stress of being the sole
breadwinner out of work amid Covid-19
pandemic, Gagandeep applied for visa
exemption of her family members in
India earlier in April to visit their loved
one, but Immigration New Zealand
declined the application.
Manwinder lost the battle to her illness
on Tuesday, August 11 at Auckland
coordinating relief efforts including arranging
food items, bringing community organisations
and individuals together, managing volunteers
and distributing food bags to needy individuals.
Monty Patel
Owner of a chain of restaurants and food
processing businesses in the Wellington
area, Monty Patel when came across the news
that foodbanks in the region were running low
on supplies- he came forward and donated
22 tonnes of rice worth around hundreds of
thousands of dollars, which have been finding
their way to the people in need through various
charities.
Prithipal Basra
Lack of accommodation was one of the
biggest challenges that the stranded Indian
nationals faced.
A prominent Auckland hotelier came forward
and opened the doors of his motels and gave
shelter to the stranded Indians for weeks
that included meals for both individuals and
families living there.
Supreme Sikh Society of New
Zealand
The Supreme Sikh Society of New Zealand
embodied this teaching of serving
humanity as they distributed thousands of food
packets not only to the stranded Indians but to
all those in need in the community, spread from
Auckland to several small cities and towns in
North Island.
Dr Vikas Sethi
As per the SOPs for international travel
in these Covid times, passengers had to
undergo medical screening before they could
board the Vande Bharat Mission led Air India
flights back home.
Dr Vikas Sethi and his colleagues from
Prana Health came forward and helped the
High Commission of India in meeting this vital
requirement and offered free medical services
to many stranded Indians travelling back home.
Temporary migrant
worker loses battle to
terminal illness, rested in Auckland
Hospital last week.
Husband had Gagandeep applied for a
short-term visa exemption for her family
members from India to attend the funeral
but said he did not receive any response
from Immigration New Zealand.
Gagandeep, having been out of work
for months since he was taking care
of his wife, reached out to the High
Commission of India to help cover some
funeral costs.
Gagandeep conducted his wife
Manwinder’s funeral on Friday, August
14 at Ann’ Funeral in South Auckland in
the presence of friends and community
members which was limited to ten due to
Alert Level 3 in Auckland.
A prayer ceremony was held at Sri
Guru Nanak Dev Sikh Sangat Gurdwara
in Otahuhu for the peace of the departed
soul earlier on Monday, August 17.