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Starving man collects milk dumped on road as the poorest bear the brunt of coronavirus lockdown

'These tragic pictures fly in the face of assertions made by @PMOIndia about #ReliefPackage for most vulnerable sections of society! Food is there, but not reaching needy!' wrote a social media user

A heartbreaking video that has gone viral on social media shows a man scooping up spilt milk from a road even as street dogs lap it up alongside him in India amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In the 17-second clip, which was shot from the Rambagh Chauraha,  just 6 km from the world-renowned Taj Mahal in Agra, a city in northern India, the man can be seen using a small earthen vessel to take the milk off the road.

The milk had spilt following an accident up the same road that involved a motorcycle that was carrying the milk, according to the HT, following which the man and the dogs had shown up at the scene.

The video soon became viral content in the country, with many slamming the government for not taking care of the needy during an unprecedented shutdown of the country that has locked all of its 1.3 billion citizens at home, just like many other parts of the world. 

"Heart-rending picture of the man from #Agra trying to scoop milk from the road! These tragic pictures fly in the face of assertions made by @PMOIndia about #ReliefPackage for most vulnerable sections of society! Food is there, but not reaching needy!" one user wrote.

"A man and a pack of stray dogs are seen in a scramble for milk spilt on a road in Agra that speaks volumes on the desperation of the country's poorest during lockdown to contain the spread of deadly coronavirus pandemic." another tweeted.

"Milk tanker leaks somewhere in Agra & a poor man can be seen filling his earthen pot with milk spread on the road," a third user said. "For thousands of poor labourers & rural poor, lockdown means to starve," said another.

When questioned, district authorities claimed they did not know of any such video or incident, while a station house officer at the nearby Itimad-ud-daula police station claimed the man was mentally unstable and was collecting the milk to feed the stray dogs.

"The man (50) lives under the Ram Bagh flyover and sometimes moves to temple nearby," officer Uday Veer Malik said. "He collects food and other edibles to feed dogs and on Monday morning had collected milk to feed the dogs."

"The man was not collecting milk for himself but for feeding the dogs after a milkman carrying milk in container slipped and milk was spread on road," he continued, adding that the man did not have any family or relatives.

India has been under a nationwide lockdown for the last 21 days, with all residents banned from venturing outside for any purpose other than buying essentials or commodities.

The move had left a large proportion of the country's 380 million people that work in its informal economy, the vegetable vendors, cobbles, etc in limbo, with the International Labour Organization stressing that food aid was critical to their survival.

That advice will become even more relevant in the coming days after it was announced that the lockdown, which was scheduled to end at midnight on Tuesday, April 14, would be extended until at least May 3.