Amid the second wave of COVID-19, Atmashakti Trust, an NGO in Noida, has restarted its “Mission Rahat” COVID relief campaign to support slum residents of the Noida region with Dry ration kits (atta, rice, dal, cooking oil and salt) for 4 weeks initially. The NGO is reaching out to those who reside in slums and are left with no income since the lockdown was induced after the surge of cases in the second wave.
Together with its ally Shramajeebee Bikash Sangathan, the organisation has helped over 1,200 families so far and plans to support at least 5000 families during the second wave of COVID-19 in the Noida areas.
“As the lockdown started due to the second wave of COVID-19, the numbers needing help from across Noida slums swelled up. Most of them are daily wage earners. The lockdown has restricted their movement, and thus, caused loss of income. So we decided to support them at the earliest.
“Our motto remains ‘leaving no one behind’ and especially helping the most vulnerable and those working in unorganised sectors who have no means of support in this challenging situation,” said Ms Ruchi Kashyap, Executive Trustee of the Trust.
The trust has recently started an online fundraising campaign with Milaap, urging people to support their initiative to help more such needy people. People in India or abroad can donate through this platform or directly to the Atmashakti Trust.
Noida Slums An Unfolding Disaster
It is difficult to imagine that after the trauma of a year ago, the slum dweller has been hit so hard again. The difference is that last year, the “migrant” workers made headlines, but this time the medical supplies disaster has overshadowed other equally serious issues. A rapid assessment of about 60–70 slums in Noida reveals the following:
- Around 40–50% have already fled to their villages, leaving only around 7,000 families, who, for various reasons, are staying put.
- These people are mostly daily wage earners, auto and cycle rickshaw drivers, rag pickers and domestic workers. There is an illness in the community, but in the absence of awareness, testing and medical facilities, people are “self-curing” at home.
- With the complete drying up of income, food is the oxygen that these families need.
During the first COVID-19 in India in 2020, the NGO also supported dry rations and cooked food to over 93,000 people from Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh who were mostly ragpickers, construction workers, migrant labourers, domestic and daily wagers through its COVID relief campaign Mission Rahat.