The Covid-19 pandemic that struck last year brought the world to its knees. People died by the thousands and those who survived the coronavirus or were spared by it could not escape the destruction of livelihoods. The lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the virus brought the country to a standstill; people struggled to find two square meals a day. They were staring at extreme uncertainty. The daily wagers and the other unprivileged sections of society suffered the most and became more and more vulnerable as organisations shut down and sources of income vanished.
Many of those, who had come to big cities in the hope of earning a better living, were suddenly left high and dry. Some of them braved the virus and the crackdown by law enforcement personnel and started the long and arduous trek back home, where they could be with their near and dear ones in a time of crisis and would have at least something to eat. Those who stayed back were faced with despair.
Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation rushed to the aid of those stricken individuals and families. Our founders sent out volunteers with the task of identifying families that were in need of support. Although we could not pay them a regular salary, we ensured that they had enough to eat.
One such family was that of Sapna Devi. A daily wager, Sapna used to stay in Delhi with her family of four. She found her work to be severely affected because of the lockdown. Whatever Sapna had saved nearly dried up within a few weeks of the lockdown. Her family had run out of ration. Luckily, one of our volunteers Vijay got in touch with the family and delivered all essential supplies. We assured Sapna of every support whenever required.
Maya and her family members were also in dire straits. Delhi faced the twin crises of riots and lockdown last year. The worst affected areas housed the daily wagers and labourers. These sections were troubled the most as a result of the lockdown. Maya, a daily wage worker and a widow, was somehow managing to look after her family, but suddenly the pandemic broke out. The family did not know where the next meal would come from. Our volunteers were going door to door to locate the families in need. The volunteers met Maya and her family members and provided them with essential supplies.
Mukesh, a painter, used to brighten the walls of buildings, but his own life was surrounded by darkness. First, the riots and then the lockdown wreaked havoc in his life. The sudden lack of daily work hit him hard. Mukesh belonged to a category of workers, whose earning is largely seasonal. Soon Mukesh’s savings vanished and his family also ran out of essential supplies. Our volunteers met Mukesh and his family members and provided them with food and ration.
We met Suresh (name changed) in Delhi’s Shiv Vihar. Suresh stayed and worked at Gandhi Nagar. His wife used to stitch clothes for a living. The duo were somehow managing to raise their kids when disaster struck in the form of the lockdown. The family was struggling to feed itself. Our volunteers Kartikeya and Vandana reached out to Suresh and his family members and provided them with all the essential supplies, including our lockdown relief ration kit.
The foundation also jumped to the rescue of auto-rickshaw driver Ravi (name changed). There were no passengers for Ravi’s auto-rickshaw and work stopped due to the lockdown. The family hoped that things would soon be normal, but the lockdown kept stretching on. The family of seven was faced with starvation. Seeing our work in their locality, Ravi and his family members approached our volunteers, and soon found us standing behind them as a source of support. We made arrangements for essential supplies for Ravi and his family too.
If you are impressed by our sewa work, don’t forget to support us so that we can save many such families in need.