In what comes as an exceptional development in these trying times, the Indian Railways transported 20 litres of camel milk to a family in Mumbai after a woman tweeted about its non-availability for her 3.5-year-old autistic child, who is allergic to goat, cow and buffalo milk. This novel gesture from the railways comes amid the 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India deals with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, which is spreading across the country like wildfire.

The woman, named Neha Kumari on Twitter, had taken to her handle on the social networking site on April 4 to inform the condition of her child, who is suffering from autism and has severe food allergies. She tagged Prime Minister Modi in her tweet and said that her kid, who survives on camel milk and a limited quantity of pulses, is getting insufficient nutrition due to scarce resource availability during the COVID-19 lockdown. She urged the Prime Minister to help her get camel milk or its powder from Sadri in Rajasthan, for the sake of her child.

"@narendramodi Sir I have a 3.5 yrs old child suffering from autism and severe food allergies. He survives on Camel Milk and limited qty of pulses. When lockdown started I didn’t have enough camel milk to last this long. Help me get Camel Milk or its powder from Sadri(Rajasthan)," the woman had tweeted.

@narendramodi Sir I have a 3.5 yrs old child suffering from autism and severe food allergies . He survives on Camel Milk and limited qty of pulses. When lockdown started I didn’t have enough camel milk to last this long. Help me get Camel Milk or its powder from Sadri(Rajasthan). — neha kumari (@nehakum79798495) April 4, 2020

Her tweet went mildly viral on the microblogging website and gained 351 retweets and 926 likes, as people shared her plea in an attempt to attract the attention of authorities who could help her.

In less than a week's time, senior IPS officer Arun Bothra took to his official Twitter handle to inform that 20 litres of camel milk has reached Mumbai by train on the night of April 10. The family had even shared a part of the milk with another needy person in the city. Retweeting Neha Kumari's original tweet, the IPS officer thanked Tarun Jain, the Chief Passenger Traffic Manager (CPTM) of North-West Railways for ensuring an unscheduled halt to pick up the container of camel milk. The officer also tagged Indian Railways Seva, the official account for support to railway passengers, and the official account of the Ministry of Railways in his tweet.

"Final update. 20 lts. camel milk reached Mumbai by train last night. The family has kindly shared part of it with another needy person in the city. Thanking Sh. Tarun Jain, CPTM, North-West Railways who ensured an unscheduled halt to pick the container," officer Arun Bothra tweeted on April 12.

Final update 20 lts. camel milk reached Mumbai by train last night. The family has kindly shared part of it with another needy person in the city. Thanking Sh.Tarun Jain, CPTM, North-West Railways who ensured an unscheduled halt to pick the container.@RailwaySeva@RailMinIndia https://t.co/fCxI6EJTrX — Arun Bothra (@arunbothra) April 11, 2020

Notably, since March 23, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 24 to April 14, the Indian Railways has done its duty of being the national transport of the country.

Railways has transported approx. 6.75 lakh wagons of commodities including about 4.50 lakh wagons of essential commodities like food grains, salt, sugar, edible oil, coal, and petroleum products since March 23.

Working closely with the Food Corporation of India, Railways has, till now, moved more than 800 rakes carrying over 20 Lakh MT food grains across the country since March 24. FCI is able to meet the increasing demand of food grains by gearing up the pace of supply of wheat and rice throughout the country mostly by rail.