Group of 10 college students in Dharavi provide ration to needy

With many areas in Dharavi sealed due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases every day, managing two square meals has become an arduous task for residents. To

With many areas in Dharavi sealed due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases every day, managing two square meals has become an arduous task for residents. To ensure nobody goes hungry, a group of 10 college students from Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, a neighbourhood in the slum, are providing ration to the inhabitants.

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There were 665 Covid-positive cases in Dharavi till Tuesday.

‘Dharavi Boys’ has been helping families with food since last month. They initially pooled money from their own pockets to support some residents. Over the last few days, they were able to support over 100 people from the donations they received.

“More than the disease, people here are worried about having to go to bed without food. Most of them are daily wage earners who haven’t gone to work for long and have no money to buy food. We thought of doing something for the people in our locality and hence decided to pool some resources,” said 24-year-old Vikas Jaiswar, who has recently passed his Bachelors in Engineering (BE) from a Navi Mumbai college.

As the funds pooled in were not enough to feed families in the slums which house nearly 10 lakh people, the group decided to crowdsource money online.

“We have created a Twitter handle and a donation link on ketto (a fundraising site) hoping to get some funds,” said Stanley Anto, a social worker who helped the students set up a social media page.

With cases increasing daily, the boys are also facing several difficulties in their work. “A couple from our locality who was providing similar help got infected and is in a hospital. We are scared to go out but we take adequate precautions and use masks, sanitisers and gloves,” Jaiswar added.