Our partner SRUJAN has distributed a ration kit to 40 Tribal Guards. With your support, we want to support 1000 more.

With your support, we want to support 1000 more forest guards.

SRUJAN works with women widow farmers, tribal communities, and mental health patients. In these exceptional circumstances, SRUJAN had provided relief for 800 families in the Yavatmal District of Maharashtra. AID contributed initial for 30 families as part of 500 family support to MAKAAM in 14 districts of Maharashtra. Yavatmal consist of 5 tribal communities. AID has received a request for supporting additional 1000 tribal families working as daily wage Van Majdur (Forest Laborers). These laborers are also the first responders during forest fires and defenders against wildlife Poaching and deforestation. Today on Earth Day let us rescue our Forest Guards. Support of $1000 can feed 70 families. Please contribute now.

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Yavatmal district is amongst the first 100 poorest districts of India, with no rail connectivity and very little industrial activity to generate wealth in the region. Basic infrastructure like education, electricity, housing, roads, health care, and banking are in rudimentary form. All these factors have a cumulative effect on access to basic amenities necessary for living. It is amongst the most backward districts of India. Map of Yavatmal attached.

The region is mostly forested and interspaced with agricultural lands with gradually undulating countryside. Five blocks of Yavatmal district are predominantly inhabited by tribes and are classified as Schedule V area under the constitution of India. This region is home to forest-dependent communities the most vulnerable being Kolams, Gond, Andh, Pardhi, and Pardhan.

Administratively the forest in Yavatmal district is divided into three divisions namely, Yavatmal, Pusad, and Pandharkawada. These divisions are further subdivided into range offices. In all, there are 21 range offices throughout the three forest divisions. There are 6 range offices in the Pandharkawada division namely Maregaon, Ghatanji, Mukutban, Parwa, Jamni, Pandharkawada. Yavatmal division comprises of range offices namely Yavatmal, Hiwari, Arni North, Arni south, Darwah, Ner, Wadgaon, Jodmoh, whereas Pusad division comprises of following range offices namely Pusad, Marwadi, Kali, Shembal pimri, Umerkhed, Digras, Mahagaon.

Decentralized Corona Relief: In every slum and village there are families who just manage to survive one day at a time. They have no money to buy food for a week. Often they don't have enough even for a day. With the Corona curfews and lock downs, they have lost even that little income. What can we do to support them?

Unlike in other disasters, centralized procurement and distribution is tricky.

Today our AID INDIA field workers from the nearby area distributed food and essentials supplies (rice, dal, oil, sugar, saly, soaps, biscuits) to 30 families in kuppaikaran colony in perungalathur. These families are contract workers who clean garbage in the city and when our field people visited yesterday they found most of them had gone out to clean the garbage and collect plastic bottles. So today morning our team purchased the supplies and distributed it.

Today, our team identified and distributed provisions to 110 families in Choolaimedu (15 families), Kuppaikaran Colony (30 families), Ganeshapuram slum (30), PM Darga + Rotary Nagar slums (35).

AID INDIA field workers who live in or near these areas, visited these families to identify who had no food or money. Then we transferred funds to our field workers who went to the nearby shops and purchased the provisions for 6 days and then went and supplied it to each of these families.

Many poor families in slums and villages are without food and money, during this lockdown. Our local field workers in slums and villages have been distributing food provisions to such families. Yesterday we distributed provisions to 110 families and today to 50 families.

We are following a Decentralized Corona Relief Distribution plan. We send small amounts of money to our local field contacts. They buy from a local grocery store and supply to families in their area that need it. Provisions for a family for a week comes to around Rs. 1500 per family (Rice, dal, oil, soap, etc)

AID INDIA has provided food provisions for a week to 358 poor families till yesterday (26 Mar). Details of distribution yesterday:

• 22 families in Nagai (12 boom boom matukarangals + 10 conservancy workers) though Vanavil team
• 40 families in Pallakkumanagar Chennai through Maarimuthu
• 25 families in Nochikuppum Chennai through Ethiraj
• 10 families in RA Puram through Bharathi
• 9 families in Kosavanpettai, Kodungaiyur and Ooty
• 117 tribal families in Tiruporur through Thoon Vasughi and Selvam

One of our volunteers met these migrant workers from Jharkand who are at staying at Kannathur. They have not had food for several days. They have also been asked to vacate as they can't pay rent now. We just supplied them food provisions that will hopefully last them for a week. They wanted to send a mesaage to Jharkhand Govt to find some way for them to go back home. So our volunteer recorded it as well. Not sure that's possible anytime soon though! We will keep in touch with them and see if they need anything later.

Yesterday, our AID team in Orissa reached out to 20 tribal families Adashpur, Cuttack district and several homeless women in Old Bhubhabeswar. The tribal families are nomadic and have no documents and so ineligible for govt relief. Our volunteer took a video of one of them explaining their state. I cannot understand a word of what they are saying, but just the video is self-explanatory. Lakhs of such people are going hungry everyday. Terribly saddening.

We just got 250 masks (N95 masks) for Stanley Govt Hospital doctors and nurses. One of our volunteers Harshitha (Stanley student and my old student) has been coordinating with a team of medicos at Stanley to provide protective equipments. They have arranged gloves, protective suits, 3ply masks and N95 masks and other protective materials for the doctors and nurses who are treating Corona patients.