food security

Three slums in and around Bhopal are home to 288 Bel-Pardhi families, one of the 198 ‘denotified’ tribes in India. Here is what they faced during the lockdown.

A single man’s drive and an empathetic community led to this community kitchen in Mumbai’s Pisavali, which has provided hundreds of food packets to migrant families.

Most people we spoke with are cautious about how the situation will develop post May 4th, but all pointed to the shortcomings in the present system for providing relief to the poor.

In the first part of our COVID Learning Series, we look at how different cities have been dealing with the challenge of providing essentials for all during the lockdown.

It was not a mean feat — battling poverty, the lockdown and even antagonism from some higher powers. But in an amazing display of method, generosity and resilience, youth from Bhagat Singh Nagar slum gathered under the banner of ‘Bhakar Foundation’ to ensure noone in the slum went hungry.

Sirmauris, as natives from Shillai are known, have been living for years in Shimla working as porters, tourist guides, taxi drivers, private security and waiters. So have the roughly 8000 porters from Kashmir. But none of them have faced such a financial crisis ever before, unable to meet even their basic food needs.

Telangana is one of the few states to have announced a slew of relief measures targeted at health support as well as social security, but what about containment of the virus? Though exact numbers are not known, some patients who have succumbed to the virus had attended the Tablighi event in Delhi.

Land is a critical resource and under pressure from humans and climate change, but it could also be a part of the solution, says latest IPCC report.