On April 11, one of our young colleagues at the Karwan-e-Mohabbat visited his village in Dhanbanda, in Assam’s Barpeta district, to distrib...
On April 11, one of our young colleagues at the Karwan-e-Mohabbat visited his village in Dhanbanda, in Assam’s Barpeta district, to distribute coupons that would enable vulnerable families to buy essential items from grocery stores. To maintain physical distancing and lockdown rules, our colleagues are deploying this strategy across Assam.
The colleague in question went to meet Shajahan Ali at his rented house, surrounded by green paddy fields, where he lives with his wife and their 13-year-old daughter. Shajahan wasn’t home.
His wife Mafida, who was pregnant at the time, said they had faced a lot of difficulties over the previous week. “We have no option,” she said. “I pick green chillies from the fields, dig up garlic, mash them together and eat it with rice. We are barely keeping ourselves alive.”
Shortly after, she gave birth to a son, who died within a week.
No social security
Shajahan works as a mason in Barpeta. His income allows him to pay the house rent, pay his daughter’s school fees, buy medicines and food for the family. However, the Covid-19 and the sudden lockdown came as rude shock. The contractor could not pay his wage for a month due to the lockdown. “No one can’t go out on the streets,” said...
