Every day we hear stories of lakhs of migrants trying to walk back to their villages thousands of kilometres away. 16 migrants were run over by a train as they were sleeping on the railway tracks; a couple from Chattisgarh that had decided to cycle from Lucknow to their villages were killed in a road accident (they are survived by 2 small children – 3 years and 9 months old) , a group of migrants were killed on the highway due to a truck accident – are just some examples of what the terrible reality these migrant workers have to face every single day.
Due to this, SP(I) has decided to change our strategy to set up community kitchens near highways and to deliver food packets and water to these migrants. A program to feed migrants labourers passing on highways was launched today by our volunteer Amit Kumar Maurya and his colleagues from village Aseni. Through local contributions they fed about 250 people in the day at Safedabad, on Lucknow Ayodhya Highway and plan to feed a similar number in the evening at the cost of Rs. 2000 per day. We will soon be starting similar initiatives at other locations on behalf of the party.
Please see below a summary of our relief efforts:
| S. No | Key Metrics | Unit | Amount |
| 1 | Community members provided with free ration or vegetables | Nos. | 14,460 |
| 2 | Community members provided with subsidised ration | Nos. | 8,140 |
| 3 | Number of free meals provided at Community Kitchens | Nos. | 74,521 |
| 4 | Other community members reached | Nos. | 1,313 |
| 5 | Total cost of community kitchens | INR | 982,335 |
| 6 | Total Communities members reached | Nos. | 98,434 |
| 7 | Total donations received | INR | 1,097,813 |
| 8 | Total expenses | INR | 1,086,310 |
| 9 | Cash in Hand | INR | 11,503 |
Thanks to our donors who have contributed over INR 10 lakh, from the start of the lockdown period, we have provided around 75,000 meals through our 20 community kitchens, and provided other forms of support like distribution of free/subsidised ration, masks, sanitary napkins etc to over 23,000 people. We are running 10 out of 20 kitchens of our community kitchens as shown below:
| S. No | Kitchen Name | Avg. no. of meals | ~Avg cost per meal | ~cost per day | Supported By |
| 1 | Dubagga Ashrayheen Colony | 200 | 12.5 | 2500 | Dr. Nuzhat Husain |
| 2 | Hardoiya | 130 | 15.0 | 1950 | |
| 3 | Salempur, Pataura (both Haider Canal kitchen are merged) | 400 | 14.0 | 4600 | Partially by Gram Pradhan Vishnu Devi |
| 4 | Janata Nagari, City Station | 150 | 14.0 | 2100 | Dr. Nuzhat Husain |
| 5 | Thakurganj | 250 | 15.0 | 3750 | Partially by Local residents |
| 6 | Kolkata | 100 | 18.0 | 1800 | |
| 7 | Kannauj | 350 | 5.0 | 1750 | Partially by Khudai Khidmatgar Foundation |
| 8 | Hardoi | 50 | 20.0 | 1000 | |
| 9 | Ujariyaon 1 | 150 | 14.0 | 2100 | Harshvardhan Foundation |
| 10 | Bhojpur, Bihar | 500 | 10.0 | 5000 | Dr. Abhijit vaidya |
Other updates:
1. Special Mention: Dr. Nuzhat Husain, through her generosity and compassion, has been one of our leading partners during this relief efforts. She has adopted some of our community kitchens, has provided free masks for distribution, is contributing towards sanitary napkins etc. We would like to thank her for her continued support during this period.
2. Masks: Dr. Pradeep Tandon, through his Mask4India Initiative has been kind enough to provide us masks on a complimentary basis to distribute to the poor in Lucknow.
3. Sanitary Napkins: We will be distributing around 1500 sanitary napkins to young women from marginalised communities purchased from Niine Company at a subsidised rate. This has been sponsored by lady doctors of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, and Dr. Rama (through Lions Club, Lucknow).
4. Ramzan Kits: We have distributed special Ramzan kits to 365 families in Lucknow.
5. Awadh International Foundation: Through the support of Mr. Atul Sharma, Awadh International Foundation – we have distributed 46 relief packets in Murmuri tola, Thakurganj, 24 at Janta Nagri, near Lucknow City Railway Station, 24 in a Jhuggi near Lohia hospital, Gomti nagar, 40 in Bansmandi, near polytechnic crossing.6. Sitapur: Party worker Amar Shiva Mishra has distributed 21 packets in village Madhiya, Miskrikh in Sitapur district.
7. Azamgarh: A new community kitchen in Azamgarh will be launched shortly by the party volunteers.
8. Ramazan Request. Bihar: Bhagalpur Bunkers (Weavers) are one of the marginalized groups but despite the strict lockdown these people are committed to performing Roza/Fasting in this holy month of Ramazan. SP(I) and Rahnuma Foundation have identified 300 most needy Rozedar families consisting of approximately 1,500 persons in total. Each kit costs Rs. 600, so in total, we are looking for Rs. 1,80,000 /- for these Iftar kits. Anyone interested in contributing to this request can write to us and let us know.
We need your support:We need your support to continue our relief efforts. Any amount of contribution would be extremely valuable to the relief efforts. Also, please share our message with trusted friends and family members who might be willing to support.
How can you donate?
SP (I) strives to be extremely transparent in its disclosure of information about the funds raised, expenses and the list of beneficiaries. You can find the detailed information in the links provided below. You could make a financial contribution to the following account:
A/c Name: Raini Fruit Company,
A/c no.: 104705002387,
IFSC: ICIC0001047
Or
UPI to : rainifruitcompany@icici
Please send an email to ashaashram@yahoo.com with a screenshot of the transaction receipt in case you do make a donation.
Click here to see our detailed income and expense sheet along with the number of beneficiaries. Click here to see the names of some of our beneficiaries. For more stories, follow our Facebook Page here .
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Love,
Sandeep Pandey
