Millions of internal migrants – most of the day labourers with little savings – were trapped far from home with little money when the lockdown was declared on March 24 with just a few hours’ notice. There have been over 118,000 cases of the corona virus reported in India, with over 3,500 deaths. The hardest hit State is Maharashtra, which has over 41,000 cases and nearly 1,500 deaths.

In the State’s capital Mumbai, the St Catherine of Siena School and Orphanage has been distributing lunch and breakfast to the stranded migrants, the poor and the homeless in and around the suburb of Bandra, a traditional Christian area of the city.

Brother Joseph Sebastian, the director of the institute, said this was in keeping with the founder, Father Anthony Elenjimittam (1915-2011), who affectionately called the destitute and orphan children under his care “Angels in Rags.”