When the information regarding the virus started trickling in, we started making our students and the staff aware of whatever facts we could get to know about the disease and how it was likely to spread. Dr. Anurag Priyadarshee, CEO of Vidya Bhawan Society, was in continuous touch with his friends in the health ministry of government of India to collect information and data on the virus. It was then disseminated to our staff so that they were not misinformed and did not become victims of rumour-mongering. The wellness Team of our Society was fully engaged in an intensive awareness generation program across all our campuses. They used the government of India IEC material and also prepared their own material to make students and teachers aware of the precautions to be taken to avoid getting infected. We also used our official WhatsApp groups for disseminating relevant information and preventing the spread of misinformation.We immediately stopped classroom teaching after the state government issued guidelines in this regard, and asked the students to remain at their homes. Although the guidelines provided for all the staff to keep attending the schools and colleges, we asked all our staff to stop attending their institutions and work from home. We were perhaps the first organisation in the state, and definitely in Udaipur, to have done so in the interest of our staff, their families and the local communities. We did not want any of us to become a carrier for the virus. The government advisory about completely locking down educational institutions came after three days of our doing so.
The extra time we got before the said government advisory was issued allowed us to systematise our closure. Our Heads of all Institutions made detailed plans in consultation with their staff on what each teacher would be doing at home everyday, and how it would be monitored on the daily basis. Our Education Resource Centre prepared learning materials for them to go through while working from their homes.
We also made special efforts to send hostel children back to their parents safely. In some cases, we even used the school buses to ensure that the children reached their homes safely. However, we decided against sending back the children belonging to Uttarakhand as we did not want them to risk their health on the long train journey. Thus, there are twenty kids still in the hostel. They are staying in separate rooms, and their food is being served in their rooms only. The children studying in class 12 are also being provided online coaching in the evening with the help of Resonance.
Following the suggestion of the President, VBS, we asked all the staff members to write a note on the future of Vidya Bhawan and what direction it should take while going ahead in time. We have already started receiving such notes.
We decided to advance the disbursement of salaries to the staff so that they had money in the time of need. We made an arrangement to disburse the salaries for the month of March on 28th March despite the lockdown.
We also stopped the daily wagers, who are engaged for various small works, especially in the farms of our Krishi Vigyan Kendra, to attend to their duties even before the lockdown was enforced, in order to keep them and their families safe. We have decided to make the entire payment due to them for the period in which they are not able to work with us.
We are also concerned with the plight of the society at large around us, in particular the families getting worst affected by the lockdown. The staff have decided to contribute their one-day salary to create a fund, which will help the vulnerable communities financially. All the staff members have been asked to identify at least five such families they personally know. Thus, we aim to reach at least 3,000 such families in Udaipur and help them cope with these difficult times. We have also discussed the issue with Give India and they are willing to support us financially in helping these households. They also asked us if we are in a position to help such people outside Udaipur. We have expressed our willingness to partner them in those efforts too.
We have also distributed packets of prepared food and raw food raw material were also distributed with the help of administration and volunteers from our institutions. We intend to continue such supplies to the needy families in the surrounding villages and slums of Udaipur.
We will keep updating our efforts on our responses to the crisis shortly.