The Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF), working under the patronage of the Embassy of India in Bahrain, reaches out to the distressed members in the community in many different ways ever since it launched its special initiatives during the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.
The latest two such activities of ICRF include extending airfare assistance to the needy people who are flying to any destinations in India through Vande Bharat mission and organising Webinar Talk series with invited guest experts to discuss on how to live during the Covid-19 situation.
Firstly, addressing the current need of the community ICRF has taken the initiative of ticket fare support to individuals who are in genuine need of return flight fare to India.
We feel this initiative serves a very worthy cause at the time of a real need we have been supporting the individuals to join back their family and meet their loved ones.
If anyone who are in need to travel back to India and cannot afford the flight tickets, please get in touch with any of the ICRF members or Regional Forum members who are ready to assist the deserving parties travel to any destinations in India.
Three of our senior members, Mr. P S Balasubramanyam, Adv. Madhavan Kallath and Mr. Mani Lakshmanamoorthy have agreed to be the members of the approval committee. The approval committee shall offer partial or full financial support to the applicant on Vande Bharat Mission flights.
Secondly, we have started the Webinar Talkshow series to create more awareness on COVID19 related subjects.
The first Webinar was conducted with the support of radio channel 104.2FM about Facing Emotional Challenges, with guest speakers – Dr Babu Ramachandran and Dr Vivek Mani and Ms Juhi Sharma as Moderator. This was received very well by the audience and many questions raised by the audience were answered by the experts.
Second of this series is being held on this Saturday, 27th June 2020 at 8.00pm on Facebook live on FB page ICRF Bahrain. The subject of this webinar is Job Risks and Challenges, which will be addressed by Mr. Ahmed Al Hayki, Assistant Undersecretary of Ministry of Labor and Social Development along with Dr Babu Ramachandran and Advocate V K Thomas as panel members.
“ICRF and its team of selfless volunteers are doing our best in supporting the needy community. ICRF’s Flight Support Mission and Webinar Talk shows will be of great help for individuals at the time of distress” said Mr Aruldas Thomas, Chairman of ICRF.
ICRF is continuing to support the community through various activities such as distribution of Awareness flyers and antibacterial soap, Food ration distribution, Reusable Face mask distribution, Awareness on ICRF LIFE for depression and Mental well being, publishing videos on how to protect one from COVID-19, Family Welfare Fund disbursements etc. We have designated special teams, selected from various states of India who are in the forefront to address the need from our community.
Dry Food ration Kits: We have so far distributed nearly 2200 Food Kits sufficient enough for approximately 2 weeks for nearly 8000 members of our community. Our aim is to feed the unfortunate workers and their families who would be suffering due to this pandemic situation.
Soaps and Flyers: We started this Covid-19 project by distributing more than 4000 antibacterial soaps in the labour camps. Flyers and posters with Disease exposure prevention instructions were produced with the support of the Embassy, in different Indian languages and distributed across Bahrain including in various labour camps and in labour moving locations. We have already distributed nearly 10,000 flyers. We shall continue to distribute Soaps and flyers.
Videos: Videos in different languages on steps to prevent the spread of virus were promoted through various social media platforms across Bahrain and outside.
Reusable face masks: With the help of the Indian Embassy so far we have distributed more than 10,000 reusable face masks at various locations in Bahrain. Another 10,000 reusable face masks will be distributed in the coming weeks.
Mental Well being: We have seen a rise in cases of emotional distress and depression in the past few weeks. ICRF LIFE (Listen, Involve, Foster, Engage) mental well-being posters with numbers to reach our specialist team in times of anxiety is appearing in local print medias as well as in social medias. A team led by Dr Babu Ramachandran handles calls from people on distress, depression or anxiety and provide advice on mental well-being.
Family Welfare Fund: During the last 6 months we have paid Rs.100,000 each to 15 families. An additional 10 family welfare fund disbursements are being processed now.
ICRF is a non-government, non-profit organization established in 1999, working under the patronage of the Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Bahrain for the general welfare of the Indian workers in Bahrain at large. Our mission is to give a helping hand to the economically weaker section of the Indian community in Bahrain. This includes Legal Aid, Emergency Help, Community Welfare Services, Medical assistance, Counseling etc. Since its inception ICRF has supported thousands of needy families at the times of distress.