Last month, when Delhi government announced free rations for the needy, it put a pre-condition – the beneficiaries will first have to register themselves on the government website. Not everyone digitally literate or have access to do so. That’s when two hearing impaired artists Apoorv Om and Ayush N Chandra came forward and began helping the under-privileged living in their neighbourhood to log on to the website and avail of the food coupons.
They also launched two campaigns, Zero Hunger and Leave No One Behind, under which they are helping people get food coupons, with the help of the volunteers of Apoorv Om Artist NGO.“Till now, we have helped over 500 people in Sarojini Nagar and Pilanji village. We started with Sarojini Nagar, and after taking the permission from the area SHO visited nearby areas spreading information about government’s food coupon scheme,” says Om, adding that it came as a surprise that while many were not aware of the government scheme at all, the few who knew had no idea how to register for it.
“We then directed our volunteers living in Sarojini Nagar, Pilanji and Lakshmi Bai Nagar to help people in their respective areas.”To educate people on the importance of handwashing and maintaining cleanliness, the two printed posters carrying WHO’s guidelines on washing hands, then pasted on the walls in the colonies.
“We have circulated a mobile number through which people can get in touch with us. The registration process takes two-three minutes and people get the food coupon within 72 hours,” says Chandra.Apart from this, they distributed masks, gloves, and handwash to the on-duty staff at Khalsa School. “The staff was working without any safety gear, so we donated these essentials to them,” he adds.
In a nutshell
Two hearing impaired artists Apoorv Om and Ayush N Chandra are helping the underprivileged living in their neighbourhood to log on to the government website and avail of the food coupons. They have distributed masks, gloves, and handwash to the on-duty staff at Khalsa School and distributed posters carrying WHO’s guidelines on washing hands.