by Father Manuel Murzello for BISMumbai

The Salesians of Don Bosco at Savedi Ahmednagar have consistently striven over the past 30 years to cater to the deprived sections of the locality through quality education. Taking stock of the prevalent COVID-19 pandemic, the Don Bosco Savedi Community has reached out to the Pardhi community.

The Pardhi adivasi people listed under the Scheduled Tribes are the most vulnerable and marginalised, having been blacklisted under the barbaric British Criminal Tribes Act. Although repealed and denotified post-independence, the prejudiced stigma-legacy of the colonial past is an unforgotten reality. Generally living outside demarcated village boundaries, the Pardhis with abysmal education levels, often under the scanner of the law, deprived of drinking water facilities, live in abject misery, often forced to beg for daily sustenance.

Don Bosco Savedi with its parishioners, has joined forces with Caring Hands NGO to bring COVID-19 Relief Aid to the Pardhi communities at Dahigaon, Kuran Mala and Tali Mala in Ahmednagar. The initial outreach of a distribution of over 51 grocery kits, was overseen by Father Vishwas Pereira together with the other Salesians.