Sanitary pad distribution as part of Socialist Party (India)’s relief efforts
Summary of the discussion at Lohia Mazdoor Bhawan, Lucknow on 4th June 2020.
A meeting was called for all Socialist Party (India) workers and other volunteers involved in the Covid-19 relief efforts including the community members who were leading the community kitchens across various areas in Lucknow.
The detailed accounts of all relief efforts were shared with everyone including the list of kitchens, donors, and beneficiaries. A summary of the numbers are mentioned below:
| S. No | Key Metrics | Unit | Amount |
| 1 | Community members provided with free ration or vegetables | Nos. | 19015 |
| 2 | Community members provided with subsidised ration | Nos. | 8140 |
| 3 | Number of free meals provided at Community Kitchens | Nos. | 106173 |
| 4 | Other community members reached | Nos. | 1316 |
| 5 | Total cost of community kitchens | INR | 1,660,849 |
| 6 | Total Communities members reached | Nos. | 134,644 |
| 7 | Total donations received | INR | 2,072,239 |
| 8 | Total expenses | INR | 1,764,824 |
| 9 | Cash in Hand | INR | 307,415 |
Community Kitchens :We had over 23 community kitchens operational in Lucknow, Barabanki, Kannauj, Hardoi, Sitapur, Kolkata, Gorakhpur, Bhojpur and Azamgarh from the last week of March 2020 till 31st May 2020. In all our kitchens, the beneficiary community was involved in the entire process of managing the kitchen from inventory management, cooking, distribution etc. No money was spent on administrative purposes for managing the kitchens.
Currently, we have three community kitchens still operational in Lucknow.
1. Pataura Village (with support of the Gram Sabha)
2. Dubagga Ahiran Kheda
3. Janata Nagari
Food Distribution for Migrants:
In addition to the community kitchens, SP(I) distributed food packets on highways near Pataura (Lucknow Agra Expressway), Kamta Chauraha, Safedabad, Barabanki (Lucknow Faizabad Road), Sultanpur Road and Amethi Railway Station, when a large number of distressed migrants were travelling back home.
Other initiatives:
1. Ramzan Kits: Special Ramzan kits were distributed to over 420 families in Lucknow.
2. Ration Kits: In the last week of May 2020, dry ration kits were distributed to 17 families in Gulramau, Sitapur District, 153 families in Varanasi, and 45 families in Sitapur
3. Sanitary Pads: Over 1500 sanitary napkin packets were distributed across various locations Lucknow, Barabanki, Sitapur and Hardoi.
4. Contraceptive Pills: Contraceptive pills were distributed to women in Hardoiya and Janata Nagari in Lucknow recently.
5. Clothes: Clothes worth Rs. 13000 were distributed to kids in the Janata Nagari slum in Lucknow.
The following plan of action were decided for the future initiatives:
1. Long term langar type initiative: Start langar type initiatives, inspired by the Gurudwara model, at three places – Ram Janki temple in Ayodhya, a village temple at Aseni, Barabanki and Asha Ashram in village Lalpur, GS Airakake Mau, Hardoi. Space is being scouted for a fourth one in Lucknow.
With the intention of promoting inclusive behaviour among those with different religious beliefs, the head of langar committees at above mentioned Hindu temples have been chosen to be Muslim friends. The langar would be open to all irrespective of their religion, gender and caste.
2. Livelihood Aspect: With the leftover money from the donations received for covid relief efforts, a plan is to be devised to provide an impetus to certain marginalised communities.
Three such communities were identified in Lucknow: (i) Stonecutters (ii) Dholak Makers (iii) Chikan hand work artisans. These would be given interest free credit for pursuing their businesses.
An individual committee, with sufficient women participation, would be formed for each of these three communities, that would be supervised by a committee including Praveen Srivatasava, Rubina Ayaz, Sabiya, Mohammad Ahmad, Salman Raini, Irfan, Yasmeen Mirza and Pankaj Choubey).
A separate bank account would be created on behalf of Socialist Mazdoor Sabha and the remaining funds would be transferred to this account to be used to provide interest free loans to the community. Pankaj Choubey and Yasmeen Mirza from Al-khair Credit Co-operative Society would help in setting up the system for providing such micro-loans.
In addition an employment generation programme for youth is also being considered under the leadership of Mohammad Ahmed Khan, President of Socialist Yuvjan Sabha.
A total capital influx of around Rs. 4 lakh would be used to start the process. The committee members and the process of providing loans are yet to be finalised.
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 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 .
Love,
Sandeep Pandey
