Pandemic destroyed the livelihood of many. Without any infrastructural support by the administration, thousands of people were left at the mercy of God. Hundreds of people had almost nothing to eat. Many old aged people who were the most vulnerable had no one to take care of them as their children were stranded in other cities. In these unimaginable times, it was the social and youth organizations that became the helping hands of these unfortunate people.
NGO’s, youth organizations, and social work groups worked day and night to make sure that no one slept hungrily. Hundreds of Kilograms of Dry ration was collected by crowdfunding and crowd collection by a number of organizations in the city and was distributed to the people. Old aged people who were unable to step out of the house amidst Covid-19 were helped with free home delivery of essential items. The migrant labourers and workers who were walking back for hundreds of kilometres all the way to there were provided with the assistance of medical aid and food support by various social organizations in the city.
Apart from food and medical aid, social organizations also noted other issues that needed equal attention during a pandemic. While lockdown spared time for people to spend it with their family, children who had no close ones suffered the most. The whole world faced mental health issues and to counter this ‘Stambh Organization’ organized free online mental health camps for children in orphanages and shelter home with the help of ‘Incubatia’, a firm based out of Bangalore. Stambh also donated sports equipment like football, cricket bats and balls to children of orphanages and shelter homes so that despite lockdown they can stay fit and active.
Organizations like ‘Help for Good’ and ‘No difference Foundation’ organized blood donation camps to meet the shortage of blood for patients during the peak time of the Pandemic. Many organizations also parallelly started to focus on cleanliness and environment protection from the pandemic which resulted in a number of new initiatives to make the city clean and green. Some NGO’s also came forward and helped the NMC to counsel the migrant workers to stop the migration and stay in Nagpur city’s migrant camps until Covid gets over.
Social organizations worked relentlessly without expecting anything in return. They served the people risking their own lives. They shared the sorrow of people who lost someone and they assisted the elderly who had no one to take care of them. In a real sense, social workers were the ‘Heros without cape’ during this pandemic.
