NEW DELHI: Self-help groups, religious organisations and the Delhi Police have come forward to help daily wagers, who have been hit hard by the ongoing countrywide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. Several initiatives have been undertaken to provide daily necessities, food and even financial aid to workers in the national capital, who have been rendered jobless in the wake of the lockdown.
Abu Sufiyan, a social activist and digital marketing strategist, has been providing kitchen essentials, in adequate amounts, to families of daily wagers in Old Delhi, with the help of NGOs Delhi Youth Welfare Association (DYWA) and Basti Suraksha Manch. They have even arranged relief to distressed daily labourers at a village in Madhya Pradesh. Sufiyan said a ration kit containing 25kg rice, 5kg flour, 5kg sugar, pulses, oil and spices is being given to a family of four. The kit has enough to last them 21 days, he added.
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His organisation is donating Rs 3,000 to a family of four, while those with two members, husband and wife, are getting Rs 2,000 each. Workers living with their families in the city are being given Rs 1,000 in cash.“The relief is being disbursed after proper verification of beneficiaries. They are being identified by our network of 40 volunteers. On the request of a friend, we have also sent funds for 100 families at a village in Madhya Pradesh,” Sufiyan said.
Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has also been arranging food for the homeless, casual labourers and travellers, who are stranded due to suspension of train and bus services. “Till Tuesday, 1,000-2,000 people, including labourers and daily wagers from Azadpur Mandi, Chandni Chowk and railways stations had arrived everyday at Nanak Piao, Sisganj, and Bangla Sahib gurdwaras for shelter and food,” Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Sikh body, said.
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DSGMC is also providing food to the government for about 25,000 people and the services are being coordinated through areas under additional district magistrates. Sirsa said that the committee has also decided to open its guest houses at gurdwaras for doctors and paramedics working overtime in hospitals. “We will make adequate arrangements for doctors and other medical staff. AIIMS and Ram Manohar Lohia have already got in touch with us. They will be accommodated in nearby gurdwaras,” Sirsa said.
Delhi Police has also come forward to arrange food, water, and hand sanitisers to people. The west Delhi police personnel, including SHO, Rajouri Garden, have been providing such items with the help of ‘Ek Noor’, an NGO.