By Mohammad Suaib

New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS): To help the needy during the coronavirus pandemic, many have tured out to be Messiahs. Ankit Gupta is one such person who helped those struggling with financial constraints, including children who did not have smartphones for online studies.

Gupta, a resident of Bhopal, has come to Delhi only last year. He extended help for the people during the Delhi riots and also arranged ambulance at the last minute for pregnant women during the lockdown.

Suraj and Faizal, who live in Karawal Nagar, Delhi, study in the second grade. Due to poor economic condition, there was only one basic phone in their family. The parents of the two children spoke to IANS saying, "We work as labourers, and we had only one phone in our house, due to which our children were not able to study as online classes are going on due to pandemic. But since we have received a smartphone, our children can now take online classes."

Amjad, a resident of Bhagirathi Vihar, Delhi, told IANS, "My wife (Sania) was pregnant during the lockdown and at the time my wife's last month was on. So I tried hard with many contacts but could not find an ambulance. Finally, with the help of Ankit Gupta, my wife got an ambulance facility and on the same day my wife gave birth to a son."

Social activist Gupta told IANS, "I started working from the time of the Delhi riots. I helped many victims, while providing ambulance at the last moment to about 17 pregnant women during the lockdown. After that we learnt that many poor children do not have smartphones for online study as schools are closed due to pandemic. Hence, we decided to help them and started donating smartphones."

"In the next two weeks, we will give 200 more phones. We have prepared a list for that," he said.