In the face of coronavirus pandemic, Churu residents sacrifice habits with 'Give up Something' campaign

In these tough times, please try to give up something. It could be your lunch, or the ice cream you crave for every evening, or that extra two minutes you spend in the shower. That's the message the top civil servant of Churu district in Rajasthan has been spreading with a unique initiative called "Give Up Something".

The message is being propounded to encourage people to make small sacrifices to save resources and focus on what's essential instead of harping on the non-essential luxuries that they are used to.

Churu collector Sandesh Nayak said the initiative, which was introduced three days back, has received a good response from district administration officials as well as people of the district, activists and others.

"It is the time for us to give up something without which we can sustain ourselves. We should save resources and should use available things judiciously at this time of crisis. Therefore I took the initiative to give up my lunch during the lockdown period and motivated others to give up whatever they can," he told PTI.

"We are making efforts to ensure that nobody goes to sleep hungry and people should understand that things which can be avoided at this time should be avoided," he said.

The collector said that when public movement was restricted due to lockdown and curfew, people used to call him and other officials complaining that fruits, chocolates, specific vegetable, ice creams were not available in the market and that they were craving for such things.

People themselves should have dropped such items from the list of daily requirements, he said.

"I asked people to give up things without which they can sustain," he said.

Apart from resources, the collector said that he has also appealed to people to give up addictions during the lockdown period.

The initiative inspired Rajeev Birda, a veteran of an expedition to the Antarctica, to announce he will auction his prized collection of Antarctica T-shirts, gloves, masks and other memorabilia, and donate to the proceeds to the state government's fight against coronavirus.

Several people have decided to skip one meal a day during the lockdown period, another official said.

One of them, Birbal Nokhwal of Ghaghu, has also decided to give up his favourite potato, while an Ayurveda doctor Liladhar Sharma decided to cut his diet in half, as well as limit ghee, oil, chillies, spices, milk and tea from the whole family's meals.

Gandhian activist L D Joshi renounced his morning breakfast and milk, saying he will help the helpless with the money saved by this.

(with inputs from PTI)