COVID 19 Pandemic : Life Sustaining Support for Marginal Community
Providing Life Sustaining Support to the sufferers of lockdown caused by COVID 19 Pandemic
One Week Rations were provided to 20 Tribal families residing at Jhalda 2 Block of Purulia District West Bengal. These families comprising of 51 heads including 12 children. These are the families of daily wages labourers and small vendors who presently have no work. The families include many aged persons who were only dependant on old age pension provided by the government. They were supplied with 5 kg of Rice, 1 kg of pulses, 2 kg of Potato, 500 gm of cooking oil, 500 gm of onion, 250 gm of Soybean, 500 gm sugar, 500 gm salt and 1pc soap.
20 families of tea garden workers in Meteli block of Jalpaiguri districts are provided with one week Rations. They are the workers of closed Tea Gardens and thus have no earning right now. There are migrant labourers from many of these families who stuck outside the state due to lock down. No families have ration card to claim the free ration provided by the government. These families comprises of 72 heads including 39 children.
14 families in Basanti Block of South 24 Parganas supported with one week supply of ration. Most of the families are either women headed or main bread-earners of the family is migrant labour detained outside of the state. 19 families from Kamarhati urban slum area of North 24 Parganas District were supplied with one week ration. These families are of daily wages labourers who right now have no income and do not have adequate supply of food. These 19 families comprises of 93 heads including 42 children. In addition to this 20 children of Bediapara slum of Dum Dum supported with nutritious dry ration.
Support to Migrant Workers
Thousands of Migrant workers, many of them with their families and children, from different districts of West Bengal detained at their workplaces due to lock down caused by COVID 19 Pandemic. They were helplessly suffering without food and shelter. SPAN took effort to stand beside them by identifying them from their home districts and blocks, collecting the contacts and networking with Government departments of their destination states and districts. In this way SPAN could arrange food and shelter support for altogether 214 migrant labourers and 70 children who are detained in the states such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Hariyana. They were from South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, West Medinipur and Nadia Districts of West Bengal. West Bengal Commission of Protection of Child Rights and their counter parts in different states also took big role in arranging support for these labourers.
Online Education Support to Children in Difficult Circumstances
Online coaching support/classes through Whatsapp Group facilities has been started by SPAN in Kamarhati, Titagarh, Belgachhia, Bankura, Jalpaiguri. Teachers are taking classes through video and audio session. The are giving task to the student, and checking home task regularly. Altogether 83 youth and adolescents were continuing their classes on Basic computer, hospitality management and Spoken English. 66 Adolescents recieving regular coaching support for their secondary and higher secondary classes.
Awareness building on pandemic and related government entitlements
SPAN disseminating information and building awareness on the guideline to be followed to fight against the pandemic as well as the government entitlements for migrant labourers and poor families. Regular programme is going on under the leadership of Youth volunteers and community based organisations in the tea-garden areas of Jalpaguri, remote tribal villages of Bankura and Purulia, villages of Sundarban areas and urban slums of Kolakata and adjacents.
