In a noble gesture, a 16-year-old Indian American girl has raised more than USD 10,000 and wired it to PM Cares fund for the victims of the deadly triple train tragedy in Odisha's Balasore district.
The girl, Tanishka Dhariwal, presented the funds to Randhir Jaiswal, the Consul General of India in New York, which she raised from her friends of diverse backgrounds.
"I got to know about the train tragedy that occurred in Balasore, Odisha. With my parent's support, I was able to start a GoFundMe page. I reached out to schools, friends and family and raised over 10,000 dollars. Hopefully, this money will be able to go and help the people who have been affected by this. I believe a little goes a long way and hopefully, this is a good start to it," Tanishka was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Tanishka was accompanied by her parents while handing over the funds.
Prem Bhandari, President of RANA and Founding Chair of Jaipur Foot USA, praised the efforts of Tanishka.
"We will hand over this 10,000 dollar cheque to the Indian Consulate which will be wired to the PM CARES Fund. Over the course of the past decade, India's outreach has extended to more than 100 nations, culminating in aid exceeding $25 billion. Particularly India's support during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the nation extended critical medical aid and vaccines through the Vaccine Maitri Programme to over 150 countries, while also providing supplies to various other countries in dire need," Bhandari told ANI.
Notably, 295 people were killed and over 1200 sustained injuries in the triple train tragedy at Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore involving Chennai-bound Coromandel Express from Shalimar, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a stationary goods train on June 2.