Sonu Sood has turned out to be a messiah for the migrant labourers and workers. He has been working relentlessly along with his team to make sure that they reach out to all the stranded migrants and help them reach home safely. From making sure of their medical checkups to their food and water, Sonu Sood has been on the frontline to help as much as he can. Apart from that, he has also made sure that social distancing is being practiced in the buses as well. In an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Sonu Sood spoke in detail about how he first came to help around 350 migrants to reach Karnataka safely.
He says, “We were not prepared for this, we never thought that we will be locked down in our houses for so long. Then we came across these pictures of the migrants walking on the highway and losing their lives. These are the people that built our houses, offices and the roads that we commute on, and we’re just letting them walk back home with their little ones. Imagine, what kind of memories will they have to grow up with, that we kept walking and my parents were in pain but no one came to help us. So, I thought something needs to be done for them. We also had the food distributed to close to 40-45 thousand people on a daily basis. There’s a place around Thane and I took permissions so that we could keep distributing food to them.”
He further elaborated, “While I was there, I saw a family passing by, so I thought I’ll ask them if there’s any way that I can help them. So I spoke to them and asked them where they’re headed and they said that they are heading to Karnataka, it’s close to 700-800 kms from here and we will reach there in a few days. So, I offered them help, I asked them to give me two days’ time so I could figure out the permissions and I was somehow able to convince them. I somehow managed to get all the permissions even from the Karnataka government and the first time, I had sent around 350 migrants home. So when I went to see them off, the kids were happy, the parents had happy tears in their eyes and they said that they thought they would die here and they won’t be able to go back home. But then, that line struck a chord that these are just 350 migrants, there are lakhs of them that need help. It was then when I started working on different levels and got more permissions from different states, when they started reaching their destinations safely, that’s when I thought that my job here is done.”
Sonu Sood is currently receiving close to 40-50 thousand requests and messages a day and is hoping to reach out to most of them. Take a look at his entire conversation, right here.
Also Read: Sonu Sood praised by Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari for his efforts to help migrant labourers