This team is using their academic expertise to aid nomadic tribes during lockdown

Many of us are doing our jobs from home thereby shielding ourselves against COVID-19, but for many others, COVID-19 is not just a health emergency. As the state went into almost indefinite lockdown to stop the spread of the virus, many informal sector migrant workers and people from nomadic tribes lost their livelihood. For these people, their struggle for food is bigger than the battle against COVID-19. Identifying the need of the hour, Team Eklavya- a group of former students from TISS, Tuljapur are using their professional and academic excellence to help these people through their initiative 'Let’s Help Maharashtra'. 

The team is providing support in terms of logistics of relief material to needy, ration kits, cooked food, and helpline for mental health issues. In addition to all these things, the team in collaboration with Savitri Jotirao Samaajkarya Mahavidyalaya, Yavatmal is also working for translation and dissemination of information in local and tribal dialects Gondi, Korku, Kolami, and Banjari.

Till now, Let’s Help Maharashtra has provided or somehow arranged ration kits or cooked food for the people like internal migrants travelling from metros to their home districts in Maharashtra, labourers stuck in metros who have lost livelihood because of the lockdown, nomadic tribes like Gosawi, Pardhi settlements in Yavatmal districts, Bahurupi Community, Transgender community, widows, and homeless people. 

With its network of volunteers all across Maharashtra, the team Eklavya has helped people in the remotest of the areas. This initiative is operated through a WhatsApp group where all the queries for the help are checked for the authenticity through ground volunteers so as to reach the real beneficiary. After completion of the task, the update of the same is provided in the WhatsApp group. At the end of the day, a graphic with a cumulative number of people who got help is provided. 

Talking about the initiative, one of the members Raju Kendre said, “Initially we had just planned to provide support through mental health awareness program named ‘Mokala Sanwad’ later we switched to helping the needy people by escalating the issues up to the administration.” In earlier days, when the team got any query for the help, it was conveyed to the administration after which people would get help. Later, they realized that people like migrant labourers and nomadic tribes, many times, do not have Ration Cards and other documents to avail the benefits.

To avoid all the bottlenecks in the process of helping people, the team later started crowdfunding to help the needy. However, even today, while troubleshooting, the team first asked the administration and local NGOs and volunteers for help. If they fail to get the help, they transfer the funds from their reserve to the local volunteers to buy the kits of essential food items sufficient for 15 days. “We are wisely using the funds as we have to manage our work from the funds we have till this lockdown ends. We have experience of working in recent Maharashtra and Kerala floods and we had never done fundraising before”, said Raju. 

Raju also mentioned that some of the members are working on maintaining the account of the funds raised and the utilized funds and it is updated every day. The team had previously helped people in logistics and operation of relief work on the ground, but this time, they believe, the challenge is different and combined efforts of the administration, local NGOs, and crowdfunding will make the fight easier and sustainable.