Help the needy living in remote villages fight COVID

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in India has been highly disruptive, destroying both lives and livelihoods. People, living in remote villages in India, with battered roofs and zero income to feed themselves are the most impacted by Covid-19. With schools shut, families in lockdown in societies where centuries-old patriarchal mindsets prevail, girl children will be impacted on multiple fronts.

• Many girls will drop out or be made to drop out to support their families in household chores. Not being in school means no midday meal and no sanitary napkin distribution.
• Research shows, crisis situations see a spike in child marriages as a lower dowry amount is demanded, there is minimal spend on marriage and it results in lesser mouths to feed in the house.
• Cases of domestic and other forms of violence spiral upwards - women are both witnesses and subjected to them. These experiences result in helplessness, anxiety, and fear that can have a lifelong impact on their submission to violence in their adulthood.

What: Ration Kits Donation for Covid relief

Whom: Over 4 lakh of the most impacted families living in remote villages

Where: 1,517 villages across MP, Rajasthan and UP 

Research shows that addressing food insecurity and community engagement are some of the ways to tackle these issues. With this in mind and the extensive household level door-to-door survey data in hand we immediately prioritized some of the most vulnerable families across the 15,000 villages we work in. Through the support of some of our partners, 14000 Team Balika volunteers and 1700 field staff, we have successfully distributed ration/grocery kits to 42,000 households across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Our team is continuously counseling community leaders, parents, teachers, etc on the importance of learning activities, sanitation and nutrition needs of girl children. But according to our data, an urgent need exists in over 400,000 households.

All donations will be used to procure ration kits containing essential groceries which will be distributed to the needy households. These ration kits cost INR 500 each and are sufficient for one household to last for 7-8 days. Each kit contains:

• 2 kg wheat flour
• 1 kg Salt
• 1 kg Sugar 
• 1 kg Soybean/Dal
• 100-200gms basic Masala (spices)
• 4 Soaps

A small donation of a basic ration/grocery kit worth INR 500 each can not just help the needy families who have nowhere else to turn to for support but also be life-changing for them, especially the women. This is especially important to help build short-term resilience in the communities during these uncertain times and keeping the women in the communities safe.