Impact Stories

Food kits distribution during lockdown in a big way

Located near Pirana - a site infamous for being the garbage dump of the city, three things that caught our attention at a visit were the kutcha roads, filth around narrow lanes and poor people struggling to meet their daily needs. It is not surprising they chose to live at the worst possible site in the city surrounded by garbage since rents are low or none.

During the Covid19 lockdown, more than 400 families residing in Ganeshnagar, an area located overlooking the Pirana dump were without work, most were employed as daily wagers. Everyone struggled each day to have food during lockdown. The plight of families made 45-year-old Ganeshnagar resident, Hargovan Parmar promise himself to find out the means to have food and ration kits. He himself was also struggling, but he was determined to help his fellow residents. Through a family friend, he came to know of Mazdoor.Co – an organization that helps informal labourers. When he contacted the organization, Mazdoor.Co decided to appoint him as the local community contact for distribution.

Hargovan readily accepted this responsibility. This developed not only leadership skills in him but also made him emerge as the most sought out person or rather a community leader. Recalling those days, he says, "Lockdown was the toughest time poor people must have witnessed in their lifetime. People earn daily and run their homes. With complete shutdown, there was no work and earnings, leading to hunger. There were a few kind-hearted people who provided food but it reached to a very few. So, we needed a big support and Mazdoor.Co came as a blessing."

During the distribution, Hargovan would take empty big vessels in auto/ tempo and get food for more than 200 residents every day. The food was brought in the morning and evening typically consisting of hot nourishing ready to eat rice and lentil preparations. The help was continued for more than two months to the residents. He recounts how it is not easy once the vehicle enters the lane to distribute the food. It is hard to maintain discipline amongst the crowd then. Especially in times when distancing is important. Getting residents to wear masks and keeping distance was possible only because of Hargovan’s skills and the respect the community had for him.

His happiness knows no bounds as he remarks, “Everyone thinks of themselves. What is the big deal?” He thought of others or rather one step ahead and that is why he has stood out. People love and respect him today.One of the residents, Goma Parmar, 60, homemaker, states, "I have three sons. They were involved in tailoring, lassi making and loading tempo businesses respectively. The lockdown stopped all earnings. Life came to a standstill suddenly. With no option, I had to mortgage my ornaments to manage the home. Meanwhile, my two daughters stayed each for ten days with their children. So, it was very difficult to manage for food. However, the food kits from Mazdoor.Co were really helpful."

Another resident, Varsha Solanki, 30, a ragpicker with three daughters says, "We can't have enough food as our family has five members. We can't be selfish as we have to see that each family in need gets food. The food kits were given to the daughters and we used to manage with less food."

They all are grateful to Mazdoor.Co But this is not the end of Mazdoor.Co’s involvement with the lives of those in Ganeshnagar. They are taking the help of Hargovanbhai in surveying the number of women and children in Ganeshnagar. They are planning to set up Education, livelihood and women empowerment centre to make their lives better. Hargovan is actively involved in supporting them. He also helps them to carry the sales of clothes in area at a very nominal cost under India Recycles. Today, Hargovan bhai is synonymous with Ganeshnagar.