The harrowing stories of migrant workers walking thousands of kilometres after they were reduced to penury overnight by the nationwide lock...
The harrowing stories of migrant workers walking thousands of kilometres after they were reduced to penury overnight by the nationwide lockdown of March 2020 may already be fading from memory. So too the desperate social media posts seeking oxygen, hospital beds, medicines, even space in cemeteries and crematoria.
We may also be at risk of forgetting how India’s citizens had to depend on each other and on nonprofits to step up to these enormous challenges as our public systems failed us.
Covid-19 presented India’s nonprofits with a barrage of simultaneous challenges, as it did their counterparts in many other parts of the world. How severe has the impact of the crisis been on the sector? How have nonprofits coped? What can we learn from the experience?
A recent research study from the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy at Ashoka University throws light on these questions. The study surveyed 312 nonprofits across the country, representing organisations large and small, working across a range of issues. Data were collected prior to the second wave of the pandemic and likely do not capture the most severe impact of the crisis. The picture, though grim, is also one of resilience and resourcefulness.
Significant challenges
On the one hand, India’s nonprofits were confronted with...
