The lockdown imposed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus adversely affected the migrant workers who lost accessibility to basic services. In Uttar Mainpura, Patna, SEWA aagewans brought attention to the hunger-stricken conditions of migrant workers, who feared dying of hunger due to the pandemic.
Parveen belongs to a poor family in Jaipur, Rajasthan. She assists her parents in their lacquer craft business. She has been associated with SEWA for the past one year, where she started with learning stitching and is now a Micro-Enterprise Leader (MEL) for the Digital Beti Project.
Renu Ben, a domestic worker and didn’t have a ration card. She hadn’t been paid in March and April and her family was running very low on rations. The local SEWA team informed her about the e-coupon system that SEWA Delhi lobbied for, which would allow those without the necessary documentation to avail ration services. It required registering for an e-coupon.
Rubina Ben hails from Basti Shastri Nagar, Jaipur. Due to complications with her first pregnancy, Rubina Ben had to deliver her child through an operation, which would prove to be the only way to birth her second child as well. She got herself a card at the Jana Hospital for further medical assistance.
Shamshad Bano, a resident of Khwaja Colony in Bikaner, has been associated with SEWA Rajasthan since 2008. She has been instrumental in spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene and distributing sanitary napkins to the women of her community, who never had access to them.
A group of 15 women from Dharampur Gram Panchayat, Gopal Panchayat and Manikchak Panchayat in the Malda district of West Bengal were rendered unemployed from their business of beedi making since the lockdown started in March.
Community members in the village of Kampara in Odisha were facing shortage of masks amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. SEWA’s digital sakhi, Jyotirmayee Dash, whose livelihood had been badly affected due to the lockdown, saw this as an opportunity of alternate income.
Kiranbirben has been working as a Sewa Bank Sathi in Aimma , Gurdaspur district for the past one year. A simple woman, before the COVID pandemic struck, most of the community she worked with knew her only as a SEWA Bank Sathi.
A resident of Samaspur village in Uttarakhand, Sheelaben is one if the oldest aagewans in SEWA, and one whose energy is difficult to match. She had moved to Dehradun with her husband as a young bride, and to support their family of 7, she learned stitching, estimating her measurements as she had never received a primary education. She joined SEWA in 2012, and became an aagewan soon after.
Batulben from Sanjay Nagar Basti in Rajasthan had attended school until the 8th grade. To support her family financially, Batulben had joined SEWA for training in Lac craft and stitching, and soon became a trainer for these skills. She was also determined to complete her education and with the support of her family, was pursuing her 10th grade studies from an open school.
