Mongpong, 13th April: Today marks the 20th day of the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. The lockdown, which was supposed to end on April 14, was extended to April 30 by the state government after an increase in the number of positive cases.
The lockdown has made a huge economical impact on the daily wagers and BPLs. Such is also the case in Mongpong village under Kalimpong district, around 27 km from Siliguri.
About 2500 people live in the village, where they mostly work as daily wagers or work in private institutions. Due to the lockdown, most of them have now become unemployed and are living under tremendous threat. The people complained of running out of money and stated that so far no help from any organization has reached the village.
The villagers said that the lockdown has made it very difficult for them to survive. The ration received from the government side is not enough to feed their family and the extension of the lockdown will make matters worse.
The lockdown has also raised concerns regarding the education of the students.
The West Bengal Government along with the extension announced that all schools and educational institutions will remain closed till June 10. Due to this, one government and three non-government schools located in the Mongpong village have been shutdown.
Now the question is whether online and digital class facilities will be provided for the way in which there is no impact on the education of school and college children of the Mongpong village. In addition to this, the village does not possess any digital class facility. All these circumstances have raised more worries among the people of Mongpong.