COVID-19: Pune man starts crowdfunding to help 1k poor families

Guwahati: Soon after the 21-day lockdown was announced, reports of people crowding the market places and grocery shops started pouring in form all corners. However, no points for guessing who will be worst affected by the lockdown. It is the daily wage labourers, construction workers, and people below poverty line who are at the raw end of the deal.

In order to provide a helping hand to the vulnerable section of the society there are a few people who have decided to step forward to help those in need. One such ‘corona fighter’ is Maharashtra-born social entrepreneur Amit Jain who is currently stuck in Guwahati after all airlines and railway services were suspended.

While he is in Guwahati, the social entrepreneur has started a crowdfunding drive in order to help 1,000 financially weaker families by transferring Rs 1,000 to each family’s account.

In a video shared with EastMojo, Jain said, “I believe people who are most affected by the lock down are the daily wage workers, maids, street side vendors who used to earn daily but now they don’t have their income source and due to the lock down they don’t have access to their daily supplies. So for that, we have started an initiative wherein we are trying to identify 1,000 families with the help of local volunteers we have across India and once we get their name, details and bank account numbers, after crosschecking, we will be transferring Rs 1,000 to each family.”

The process has been initiated through crowdfunding website Milap. Amit has also shared the details of the initiative on all social media platforms of his venture, Mitti Ke Rang. However, this is not the first time that Amit has come up with such an initiative. The social entrepreneur has been working for gender equality and the empowerment of single women and widows across the country through his organisation for several years now.

Mitti Ke Rang has its branches across Pune, Maharashtra, India and also across nine other countries.

A breath of relief was provided by the government around the same time Amit started the initiative. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 announced an economic package of Rs 1.7 lakh crore to help the financially poorer section of the society. The package will provide financial support to migrant workers, labourers, agricultural workers. The finance minister also mentioned that the package will immediately come into effect and has been made to reach out to people who are in need of immediate help.

Although government support came just when it was most needed, initiatives from corona fighters like Amit is a much-needed help when the entire nation is battling against a fatal disease.