Relief material distributed to the most vulnerable families in Pudukkottai and Nagapattinam districts
Kudumbam’s efforts
during the COVID-19 lockdown
The past few months of the COVID-19
lockdown have proven itself to be strenuous for the Indian countryside. The
lockdown entailed a shut down of all non-essential operations as well as
restricting people from stepping out of their homes. All transport services–road,
air and rail- were suspended, with exceptions for transportation of essential
goods and emergency services, yet this too has been limited to a great extent
due to ambiguity of what is considered essential goods. The lockdown has
stagnated almost all sectors, the most vulnerable have suffered the most, as
access to basic necessities has been out of reach or much limited.Â
The most vital of all sectors, the
agricultural sector, has shown to be filled with bottlenecks that were not
carefully looked over when the lockdown policies were implemented. Thus, the
food supply chain has come to a stagnation as the produce is literally on a
standstill. Farmers are unable to sell their produce due to immobility caused
by the lockdown. With this backdrop the farmers have deemed harvesting to
be redundant and a waste of resources. In other words, many landless farm
workers have lost their livelihood. On the other hand, many farmers who want to
harvest their crop have had the opposite problem. Farm labourers have
been sparse and the landowners have not been able to find individuals to work
on their field, this again due to the immobility and lack of public transport.
Thus, the rich spring harvest due to the favorable rains have been left to dry
out. Similar problems have manifested themselves among milk farmers. Central
milk production industries are no longer buying milk from farmers as the demand
has fallen. The closure of coffee shops and restaurants have reduced the need
for milk, thus leaving milk farmers without an income. Moreover, a shortage of
drivers in the transportation sector has further stagnated other parts of the
supply chain, e.g. middle-men and market salesmen are also out of work. In
other words, families in vulnerable socioeconomic positions have gotten it even
more difficult.Â
With these developments Kudumbam has
done the best of its ability to help those in most dire need. Kudumbam’s close
proximity to the rural areas has allowed a first hand appreciation of the
constraints and needs of vulnerable families in the region. Through various
baseline studies Kudumbam has identified 4860 vulnerable families and 4050
children of the age group of 1-5 years in 81 panchayats of Pudukkottai and
Nagapattinam districts, but unfortunately have as of now been able to
help 312 of them due to financial constraints. The efforts included
distribution of relief packages, which contained rice, various provisions,
vegetables and sanitary products. These relief efforts have been made possible
through mobilization of funds from local and international donors including:
Holy Cross College, Trichy, Sr. Joseph’s College Alumni and the former NABARD
District Divisional Manager, Pudukkottai, the present NABARD District
Divisional Manager, Pudukkottai, Kudumbam Friend Group, Sweden and other
long-time partners of Kudumbam.Â
We are planning livelihood restoration
activities for these much affected jobless, incomeless migrant workers and
children from June to the end of this year.
A lot of vulnerable families are still
in much distress and the hardship is immense. Please help by donating to
Kudmbam’s emergency relief efforts, please find the details below.
FOR INTERNATIONAL DONORS
ACCOUNT NAME:Â KUDUMBAMÂ
ACCOUNT NO.: 046701000026483
BANK NAME: Indian Overseas Bank  Â
                           Â
BANK ADDRESS:Â
Jamal Mohamed College Branch
TVS Tolgate
Tiruchirappalli – 620 020.
Tamil Nadu
India Â
Â
Branch code  : 0467
IFSC Â Â Â Â Â
  : IOB A 0000467
SWIFT CODE: IOB A IN BB 001Â Â
BANK TEL NO: +910431- 2332030 , 2332031
Â
FOR LOCAL DONORS
Bank details         : Kudumbam – General Fund
Account No : 046701000025018
Bank Code : 0467
Â
Bank Name and Address: Indian
Overseas Bank
Jamal Mohamed College Branch
Trichy – 620 020
IFSC Code  : IOB A 0000467