Bengaluru, Apr 22 (IANS): With the help of Civil Defene Corps (CDC), the Karnataka government distributed a whopping 15 lakh food packets to thousands of migrant labourers, stranded across the state due to sudden lockdown since March 25, an official said on Tuesday.

"As a voluntary organisation of the state home department, the CDC, in coordination with the state Home Guards and Akshaya Patra of Isckon, has distributed 15 lakh food packets to hundreds of migrant labourers in relief camps at Bengaluru and other cities/towns since March 30, as they are stranded with no trains/buses," a home department official told IANS.

When the 21-day lockdown began on March 25, the CDC swung into action and reached out to the migrant labourers, who were without work, food and shelter, as the lockdown suspended every activity and they could not go back to their native places in the absence of trains and buses across the country.

"As our mission is to protect life and property of the people in the hour of crisis or in the event of natural calamity or external aggression, about 2,500 corps volunteered to take care of the migrant labourers in make-shift shelters, providing them with basic amenities and food packets," CDC Commanding Officer P.R.S Chetan said in a statement here.

The CDC also distributed 1.3 lakh grocery kits to the needy through the state government and Akshaya Patra from April 4-20.

"Besides manning a social media room 24x7 with a helpline for enquiries and information, our personnel also stitched and distributed cotton masks and created awareness for social distancing among the people to contain the coronavirus spread," said the official.

The Corps distributed 2 lakh food packets to migrant labourers in Bengaluru urban and rural areas through the state's labour helpline.