Coronavirus - Delhi's Poor Depend On Handouts To Survive COVID-19 Lockdown

Even amid the coronavirus lockdown, 56-year-old Mohammad Shahzad drives his rickshaw for over a kilometre every day - not to ferry passengers but to go and queue up for food twice a day.

Shahzad who lost his wife two years ago to an illness has six children back home in Bihar who are now left to fend for themselves.

He has not been able to speak to them for 15 days because he doesn't have money to pay for his phone.

Mohammad Shahzad said, "I used to earn Rs 400-500 on a normal day but now everything is shut because of the lockdown so I don't have a single penny. So I have to queue up every day for food. I come from Lodhi Colony every day to get food here. I used to send money to my kids back home. But I don't have money to recharge my phone so for 15 days I have not even been able to speak to my kids."

Amid the 21-day lockdown that has now been extended to May 3, lakhs of people like Shehzad join such queues and are dependent on NGOs and the government who distribute meals. The bowl of dal and a plate of rice they get here is their only source of survival at this point.

At Lodhi Road, it is the Delhi-based NGO Uday Foundation which brings the meal and often packets of biscuits and soaps. As people start lining up, policemen and a few locals ensure that the right social distancing is maintained.

It is the Blind Relief Association on Lodhi Road that is lending its support to such people by cooking lunch and dinner for 600 people every day at this kitchen. This food is then taken by the Uday Foundation to different parts of Delhi.

Om Lal Thapa, Head Cook said, "We get up at 5 am every day to cook meals for 600 people. We ensure all safety and hygiene precautions are taken. A team of seven cooks with all sanitised gear is involved in this process."

Ram Murti Mishra, Medical Councillor at Blind Relief Association said, "We ensure that all health and quality controls are in place. The resources for this process are donated by the Association. We manage it from our own funds."

Among those that receive this food are also people like 37-year-old Brahm Dev Rai from Araria district in Bihar. He used to work as a construction labourer and has been staying with his wife at a dharamshala near AIIMS where he receives weekly treatment for his kidney condition. He has four children are back home.

While they have been buying food by borrowing money so far, with the lockdown, even the lenders have backed out.

Brahm Dev Rai said, "We used to buy food somehow on our own only but now others like this group bring the food and that is how we survive. Nobody is giving us money anymore."

His wife Ranju Devi said, "We spent over Rs 8 lakh on his illness by borrowing from all ends. But now nobody will lend anymore. How will our kids survive?"

In South Delhi's Madanpur Khadar, several tonnes of wheat and rice is brought by the NGO "Goonj" and then segregated to make ration kits for nearly 800 households every day. These kits contain 10 kg rice, 5 kg wheat flour and other things like pulses, oil, salt and soap. For children even games and small toys are added to the kits.

It is then taken to areas like West Delhi's Nihal Vihar and distributed where it become a lifeline for people like 43-year-old Ghanshyam Pandey, a plumber who hails from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh and takes care of his 93-year-old mother, his wife and three children.

Ghanshyam Pandey said, "My mother is 93 and suffers from respiratory issues. Every week I have to buy medicines for her for Rs 500-800. I used to earn Rs 10,000 a month but now I have nothing. I get some help through this food."

Imran, a member of Goonj who coordinates this process, told NDTV, "Every day we create 600-800 family kits. We get a stock of 2-3 tonnes of atta, dal, rice because so many families have to be catered to every day. So we ensure that there is never any shortage. We add a toy also because in these tough times we hope that those will make it easier to distract the kids and make them happier."