The Imphal West district, one of the twin districts of Manipur’s capital, has banned all forms of Covid relief by NGOs, individuals among others in the name of charity. An order issued by the district administration stated that the ban was necessitated in the interest of the general public. The order noted while the district administration welcomed the act of kindness, such acts of charity in the form of kind or cash is often accompanied by the use of loudspeakers, public gathering, house-to-house visits and more importantly the use of specially created relief kits/packages with names of the donors for media coverage and social media consumption. Subsequently, the districts administration stated that it felt that use of media or social media outlets for gaining publicity in the name of charity through use of specially created kits, public gathering among others for photography or video coverage is highly undesirable as it undermines the very purpose and sanctity associated with charity. It has become imperative to immediately curb and stop such undesirable and emerging trends in the interests of general public, it added. As such, it is ordered that such “undesirable practice of using relief packages with logos, loudspeakers, house to house visit done by CSOs, individuals in the name of charity during the ongoing pandemic should be immediately stopped”, it stated. Moreover, the district administration warned that those who violate the order will be penalized under relevant provisions of laws. Manipur on Tuesday witnessed the highest single-day spike with 824 new Covid-19 cases, which took the cumulative number of cases to 45,451. The state also reported 15 more Covid-related fatalities, pushing the total death toll up to 720.
