New Delhi, April 17 Showing a humane approach amid strict implementation of the nationwide lockdown, officials of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir coordinated to reunite a three-year-old boy with his parents.
The boy, Mayankvir Singh, had travelled to his maternal parents house in Urban Estate Phase-II in Patiala city of Punjab along with his mother Puneet Kaur in March.
She left her son with her parents and returned to her marital home in Kathua. Meanwhile, the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic was announced from March 24 midnight, following which Mayankvir could not go back to his parents.
The lockdown was further extended from April 15 to May 3.
The boy gradually grew homesick and urged his grandparents to send him back to his parents. So, his grandfather contacted the Patiala Child Welfare Unit while the boy's mother contacted child welfare officials in Kathua.
Patiala's Assistant Commissioner Ismat Vijay Singh liaised with officials concerned in Jammu and Kashmir, following which Puneet Kaur was issued a pass for inter-state travel.
She drove to Patiala and was united with her son. Both then proceeded back to Kathua, with Mayankvir undergoing screening on the interstate borders before he was allowed to proceed further.
Punjab's Women and Child Welfare Minister Aruna Chaudhary tweeted about the incident on Friday, pointing out that the boy's parents had praised officials for their help in the matter. Union Minister Smriti Irani retweeted Chaudhary's tweet.
( With inputs from IANS )