Giving Migrants in India a Second Chance
ICMC and its member, the Conference of Catholics Bishops of India (CCBI) continued to assist internal migrants who have been forced to return to their homes in northern India, after losing their jobs because of COVID-19.
Over 500 migrants took part in ICMC-CCBI’s outreach projects, which provided information on income-generating activities and funding, COVID-related social security and food schemes, and education opportunities for children whose families were affected by COVID. 236 participants were also provided bereavement support, and 220 benefited from healthcare advice. More than 300 persons benefited from entrepreneurial training, and 200 accessed start-up funding.
Haseena Bibi In her shop in Jahangirpuri slums. Haseena Bibi is 35 year old woman who lives with her five children in a small room in a slum. She is a second generation migrant who’s parents moved to Delhi from a rural part of Uttar Pradesh. She use to make bangles before covid which earned her hundred rupees a day. Her work stopped completely during the pandemic and forced to rely on grocery donated by others. Things became even more difficult when soon violent communal riots took over the Jahangirpuri area she resides in. She eventually received financial help from Chetanalaya a Non profit Organisation based in Delhi in restarting her business, which helped back get back on her feet and opened up a way of steady income.
Haseena Bibi In her shop in Jahangirpuri slums. Haseena Bibi is 35 year old woman who lives with her five children in a small room in a slum. She is a second generation migrant who’s parents moved to Delhi from a rural part of Uttar Pradesh. She use to make bangles before covid which earned her hundred rupees a day. Her work stopped completely during the pandemic and forced to rely on grocery donated by others. Things became even more difficult when soon violent communal riots took over the Jahangirpuri area she resides in. She eventually received financial help from Chetanalaya a Non profit Organisation based in Delhi in restarting her business, which helped back get back on her feet and opened up a way of steady income.
Aslam at work in a client’s shop. Moahmmed Aslam Siddiqui, a 48 year moved to Delhi from small town named Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. He lives with his wife and four children in a small apartment and is the sole earning member of the family currently. Before the Covid-19 pandemic hot Delhi, he use to work as an electrcian and went door to door repairing electronic items like fans, washing machines, air conditioners, coolers, etc. His work completely shut down during the pandemic as no one wanted any outsider in their house. He barely managed to get some odd jobs from his neighbours during this tough time. He found out about the financial assistance Chetanalay organisation was providing and managed to secure money which helped him open an electronics shops which sold goods like water heaters, fans, and spare parts used in repairs. He managed to run his shop for almost a year before it got shut down during the violent communal riots in Jahangirpuri where Aslam resides with his family. He was forced to remove all the goods from his shop and move it to his house. Now he is back to door to door repairing electronics and sometimes manages to make a sale of one of the items stored at his house.
Aslam at work in a client’s shop. Moahmmed Aslam Siddiqui, a 48 year moved to Delhi from small town named Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. He lives with his wife and four children in a small apartment and is the sole earning member of the family currently. Before the Covid-19 pandemic hot Delhi, he use to work as an electrcian and went door to door repairing electronic items like fans, washing machines, air conditioners, coolers, etc. His work completely shut down during the pandemic as no one wanted any outsider in their house. He barely managed to get some odd jobs from his neighbours during this tough time. He found out about the financial assistance Chetanalay organisation was providing and managed to secure money which helped him open an electronics shops which sold goods like water heaters, fans, and spare parts used in repairs. He managed to run his shop for almost a year before it got shut down during the violent communal riots in Jahangirpuri where Aslam resides with his family. He was forced to remove all the goods from his shop and move it to his house. Now he is back to door to door repairing electronics and sometimes manages to make a sale of one of the items stored at his house.
Shobha Devi aged 40 lives with her husband and three children in Delhi. She is originally from Bhagalpur in Bihar and is living in Delhi for 25 years. Before the pandemic, she ran a small business of stiching and tailoring. During the pandemic her work suffered. She would manage to earn three to four hundred a day before the Covid-19 pandemic hit which got reduced to zero during the peak of pandemic. She got associated with Chetanaly organisation through which she got basic entrepreneurship training and financial help which she invested in buy raw materials which helped in restarting her shop. She not only managed to restart her shop but managed to expand it in months.
Shobha Devi aged 40 lives with her husband and three children in Delhi. She is originally from Bhagalpur in Bihar and is living in Delhi for 25 years. Before the pandemic, she ran a small business of stiching and tailoring. During the pandemic her work suffered. She would manage to earn three to four hundred a day before the Covid-19 pandemic hit which got reduced to zero during the peak of pandemic. She got associated with Chetanaly organisation through which she got basic entrepreneurship training and financial help which she invested in buy raw materials which helped in restarting her shop. She not only managed to restart her shop but managed to expand it in months.
Shobha in her shop. She earlier own only one rack of fabrics, but with rapid sucess of her business she bought two more racks of her fabrics (background). Shobha Devi aged 40 lives with her husband and three children in Delhi. She is originally from Bhagalpur in Bihar and is living in Delhi for 25 years. Before the pandemic, she ran a small business of stiching and tailoring. During the pandemic her work suffered. She would manage to earn three to four hundred a day before the Covid-19 pandemic hit which got reduced to zero during the peak of pandemic. She got associated with Chetanaly organisation through which she got basic entrepreneurship training and financial help which she invested in buy raw materials which helped in restarting her shop. She not only managed to restart her shop but managed to expand it in months.
Raja Ram with his wife Nirmala Kumari. Raja Ram is a 26 year old man, who is originally from Darbhanga in the state of Bihar. He has been living in Delhi since 2006. He had a job of a porter in factory before the Covid-19 Pandemic hit Delhi. He eventually lost his job when the company worked for got shut during three month long lockdown. He managed to secure a used electronic ricshaw but it came without a battery. He got financial assistance through Chetanaly to buy a battery and start earning again.
Raja Ram is a 26 year old man, who is originally from Darbhanga in the state of Bihar. He has been living in Delhi since 2006. He had a job of a porter in factory before the Covid-19 Pandemic hit Delhi. He eventually lost his job when the company worked for got shut during three month long lockdown. He managed to secure a used electronic ricshaw but it came without a battery. He got financial assistance through Chetanaly to buy a battery and start earning again.
Aasha Chauhan, 41, lives with her husband, two kids and her mother in Delhi. Before the pandemic, although she got few odd jobs for beauty treatments at home, she considered herself as house wife. Her husband was the primary provider for the family. Unfortunaltely he was forced to stopped going to work during the strict lockdown and eventually lost his job. Aasha was encouraged by her neighbourhood clients to open a beauty parlour and decided to seek financial help from Chetanalay to do so. She managed open a parlour which sees good flow of regular customers and manages to earn one to two thousand rupees a day. Her husband eventually got back to work and now they both contribute in the family earning.
Bharti Sharma, 37, lives in a joint family system. She is originally from Uttar Pradesh and is living in Delhi for 20 years. She was always passionate and ambitious about making clothes and has been running a small tailoring shop in her neighbourhood from last ten years. Her business came to complete halt during the covid 19 lockdown in Delhi. Her rented shop remained closed for six months because of lack of customers. But she still managed to gather enough work to pay the bare minimum rent and nothing more. Last thing she wanted was to lose the shop she ran for eight years. After reopening her shop, to cover the loses, she sought financial help from Chetanalay, which she invested in buying an advanced stitching machine which allowed her to make dresses with tougher fabrics like velvet. This lead to growth of her customer base and brought her business back in action.
Anjali preparing samosas at her home. Anjali Agarwal aged 35 lives with her family of five in Delhi. She and her husband are originally from Jaipur, Rajasthan and have been living in Delhi for five years. Anajali and her husband both had private jobs. And both were fired from work during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. She managed to feed her family through grocery donated by people for months. She found out about Cethanalay’s financial help and approached them in seeking help in setting up a pushcart selling samosas, a fried Indian snack. She invested the money in buying a push cart, utensils, a stove and grocery for the samosa. She along with her husband makes three or four hundred samosas everyday which almost everyday gets sold out, at seven rupees per piece.
Kamaruddin shows toys assembled by him. Kamaruddin is 45 year old man living in Delhi with his three kids and wife. Originally from Orissa, Kamaruddin is living in Delhi for 30 years. He assembles toys and sells it to road side vendors in Delhi. He has been doing the same work for many years. During the covid 19 lockdown Kararuddin’s work suffered a lot as road side markets were not allowed hence preventing sales of Karauddin’s toys. He started selling fruit which earned him enough money to feed his family for six months. He later got associated with Chatanalaya through which he got money to restart his business which he invested in buying raw materials for assembling toys.
Monica Singh, 36 years lives in Delhi with her husband Manoj Kumar and their two children. Use to work as a domestic help. Morning husband handles the cart. Evening she takes over. Once the covid 19 lockdown started, Monica was fired from the house she worked in. The family who she worked for had owed her money which they refused to pay. She suffered from different kinds financial and health problems during this period and relied on donated grocery to feed her family. She got associated with an NGO protecting rights of domestic workers through which she got some financial support which she used to buy a pushcart and vegetables to sell, which has helped her and her family get back up on their feet. Her husband mans the cart in the morning and she takes over in evening and together they earn upto 700 rupees a day.
Sabila Khatoon is 48 year old woman living with her five children in a slum in Delhi. Originally Madhubani Bihar, Sabila has been living in Delhi for twenty seven years and is the only earning member of her family. Before the covid-19 lockdown Sabila worked as a cleaner in a university from which she was asked to leave when the lockdown started. She was promised she will be hired back once the lockdown is lifted, but wasn’t. She relied on donated food during this tough time for her. A social worker helped her in securing financial help which she used to convert a small part of her makeshift home into a petty shop. The shop which mainly sells chips, biscuits and snacks for children, is now source of a steady income for her.
Sabila Khatoon is 48 year old woman living with her five children in a slum in Delhi. Originally Madhubani Bihar, Sabila has been living in Delhi for twenty seven years and is the only earning member of her family. Before the covid-19 lockdown Sabila worked as a cleaner in a university from which she was asked to leave when the lockdown started. She was promised she will be hired back once the lockdown is lifted, but wasn’t. She relied on donated food during this tough time for her. A social worker helped her in securing financial help which she used to convert a small part of her makeshift home into a petty shop. The shop which mainly sells chips, biscuits and snacks for children, is now source of a steady income for her.
Kevalli is a 38 years woman living in Munirka slums of Delhi. Originally from Tamil Nadu in south India, she moved to Delhi when she got married into Tamilan community settled in Delhi. She worked as a domestic help before lockdown. When the Covid-19 lockdown started, she was asked not to come to work until lockdown was lifted and was never called back at work. She asked for financial help from a social worker. She used the money to buy raw ingredients and utensils and setup a stall selling Appam, a South Indian fried snack. Her appams were a hit in her area and she invested her profits back into her business to expand. She runs the stall with the help of her brother in law Arun. Together they manage to earn 200-300 rupees per day.
Kevalli and Arun at their Appam stall. Kevalli is a 38 years woman living in Munirka slums of Delhi. Originally from Tamil Nadu in south India, she moved to Delhi when she got married into Tamilan community settled in Delhi. She worked as a domestic help before lockdown. When the Covid-19 lockdown started, she was asked not to come to work until lockdown was lifted and was never called back at work. She asked for financial help from a social worker. She used the money to buy raw ingredients and utensils and setup a stall selling Appam, a South Indian fried snack. Her appams were a hit in her area and she invested her profits back into her business to expand. She runs the stall with the help of her brother in law Arun. Together they manage to earn 200-300 rupees per day.
