Project Potential: COVID-19 Relief (#PPCOVID19Relief)

The scourge of coronavirus has hit daily wage workers the hardest who lack savings or access to basic necessities. Around our eArthshala campus in Kishanganj District, Bihar the majority of people are daily wage workers in tea gardens, farms, and brick kilns. With the nationwide lockdown, all but the most necessary work has been shuttered, so daily wage labourers are without a livelihood. Many of these families lack ration cards or bank accounts, and even for those who have them, ATMs are often inaccessible or lack money once people reach them. We have been working closely with the district administration on awareness activities (which will continue) and now we are going to ensure that the 250 daily-wage earning families and 1,250 people living in the villages around our eArthshala campus have food and basic sanitary materials for the next 15 days.

In short: Provide food and sanitary essentials to the poorest families in the communities we work with.

Place: Thakurganj Block, Kishanganj District, Bihar, India

Number of villages: 4

Name of villages: Bhelatupi, Siyalmuni, Bhutijhari and Khalpara

Number of families: 250 (average size of 5 people / family)

Number of beneficiaries: 1,250

Selection criteria: Families whose main income is through daily wage work and whose work is stopped due to the lockdown 

How we will verify the families: 

1. These 4 villages are located around our eArthshala campus and we have worked very closely with them for the past 3+ years.  
2. We have conducted two surveys in these villages and have information on occupation and family status.  
3. We are finalizing the list of local beneficiaries with support from local community members, local team members, and core team members with the help of their knowledge and our survey.

The kits are made for a family of 5 and will contain: Basic food items (rice, flour, daal, chai, biscuits) and sanitary (soaps) materials. Please follow this link for the full list of items and the estimate: shorturl.at/dor07.

• 250 families
• 1,250 people
• Provided with 15 days of relief 
• Such that they do not go hungry, can keep basic sanitation, and can follow the COVID-19 guidelines (handwashing, social distancing, etc.)

*Note: We will begin distributing the items as the funds come in.