Images from 2020 of Good Samaritans handing over provisions to the underprivileged are engraved on our collective memory. There are fears that these images may play out not only in the mind, but on the ground.
S Jayapandi, president of Rotary Club of Chennai Serenity under RI District 3232, recalls how during the first phase of lockdown in 2020, his club identified underprivileged families that were unregistered and therefore ineligible to receive rations offered under the public distribution system.
The club was providing these families — struggling to make ends meet due to lack of work — with one-month’s provisions.
“In 2020, we identified around 40 families in the Navallur area that were struggling to get basic food, and offered them provisions on a regular basis. We similarly helped underprivileged families of this kind in Nanganallur and Madipakkam. With restrictions coming into effect now, we would be kick-starting the initiative again,” says Jayapandi.
“We have again formed a committee for identifying the beneficiaries. As before, it would be supported by contributions from members with each of them deciding how much it should be. So, someone may contribute ₹50,000; another ₹5,000; and yet another, ₹500. The club welcomes any contribution made by its members.”
The Club president says that every time the distribution will take place in one place — say, Madipakkam or Nanganallur — in one day.
