Jubin Nautiyal on Covid relief work in Uttarakhand: This is somebody else’s job who’s not doing it

Singer Jubin Nautiyal is busy on ground, doing Covid relief work in his home state Uttarakhand. From arranging oximeters, food to spreading awareness about the virus, he’s one of the several voices apart from actor-choreographer Raghav Juyal, who came forward and spoke about the worrisome condition back home.

Nautiyal recalls things went “out of hand” a week ago, and he doesn’t understand the notion around Uttarakhand being a new state.

“Uttarakhand was formed in 2000... I have a problem with the statement that it’s still a new state. Bees saal ho gaye, things should be moving here. We celebs shouldn’t be coming out to help people, it’s not our job to do this. It’s somebody else’s job, who’s clearly not doing it right,” he rues.

Pointing at the “bad political front” in the state, the singer asserts that people stopped taking the pandemic seriously long time back.

“I say this everywhere in my shows, ‘Come to Uttarakhand, see how beautiful our state is’. But, it needs a lot of attention and work;it’s time to buck up. I’m just doing my bit,” says Nautiyal, as he explains how second wave wreaked havoc.

“There was a lot of suffering in the cities here, they’ve taken the second wave head on. The state isn’t as bad. The problem is with the society. The first wave was taken seriously, the second was not, by every individual in India. We were not ready for it, even though they had a second wave model across the globe,” he notes.

The Tum Hi Aana (Marjaavaan; 2019) singer also converted his digital concert into a fundraiser to be able to help people affected by Chamoli cloudburst in the state, and raised ₹15 lakhs. While he continues to work for the upliftment, he doesn’t believe in blowing his own trumpet.

“I have a region of one and a half lakh people, I want to affect that first, then move to the next one. There’s also a big migration issue here. Migrants came back to nothing, no food, ab karenge kya ghar aake? So we took help from Anant Ambani’s foundation that sent 6,000 food kits. It was a ration worth six crores rupees,” Nautiyal tells us, adding, “Then we spread awareness among the mountain people because they thought the police will take them [in isolation] if they test positive. Along with a team of doctors, I myself explained to these people that getting detected early is the key.”