THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Priya Dutt, Anil Antony and Faisal Patel are names which get resonated with Congress politics. Two-term MP Priya is the daughter of film star Sunil Dutt; Anil is the son of former Defence Minister A K Antony and Faisal Patel, son of the powerful Congress MP from Gujarat Ahmad Patel. But now all the three youngsters are more associated with voluntary activities and are at present in Kerala for post flood relief operations.
While Priya is mainly into healthcare and rural education through her organisation Nargis Foundation, Anil is promoting the NGO Navoothan formed by his mother Elizabeth Antony. Faisal Patel is active with his organisation HMP Foundation which has its roots in Gujarat.Priya is coordinating with the other two and supplying school kits to children in flood-affected areas.“We are now providing 5,000 school kits which include notebooks, pens, pencils, instrument boxes and other things essential for a school student,” Priya told Express.
The three have already given 2,000 kits to children in Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram and will be giving the remaining 3,000 in Wayanad.“We had the experience of doing service in the flood hit areas of Kashmir. So when the floods hit Kerala, I naturally went for a crowd funding of materials and procured 50 tonnes of provisions which include rice, other provisions, biscuits, bottled water and even apples from Kashmir,” said Faisal Patel.
When they were ready with the relief materials, the next headache was logistics and the huge charge levied by the air cargo. “Luckily for us Go Air chipped in through the Wadia Foundation and transported the materials to the state without any payment,” he said.
Anil coordinated closely with Faisal’s organisation and did the ground work in the state. Materials landed at Thiruvananthapuram airport as Kochi was closed and transported them to Alappuzha and Wayanad by road. “We concentrated more on Wayanad as it is a tribal area and people were dying for relief materials.” When asked as to how the grassroot force was drawn from, Anil was all praise for Wayanad MP M I Shanavas who provided them a strong team of volunteers and helped us distribute the materials without any hassles.”
When asked about their prospects in politics, Anil and Faisal said since their parents are not keen in dynasty politics there is a very little chance of their entering politics.“However, I don’t know what is in store in the days to come,” said Anil.
Though Faisal is quite sure that his father never wants him in politics, he does not know what will happen in future. “I’m more active in the HMP Foundation and we are running a multi-specialty hospital - Sardar Patel Hospital and Heart foundation - in Baruch, Gujarat which is our family turf.”
The political trio
Priya is mainly into healthcare and rural education through Nargis Foundation
Anil promotes the NGO Navoothan formed by his mother Elizabeth Antony
Faisal Patel is active with his organisation HMP Foundation