Worse Than Slavery: Indian Sewer Divers

Health Pandemic turned into India's Biggest Humanitarian Response post 2nd World War and Partition: One Pandemic Multiple Warriors

On 23rd March, 2020 at 8:00 PM, a certain section of Indian population has suddenly turned into migrants. Before we realized, one big section of population became internally displaced persons    (which is more than population of many countries in the world) often termed as people on move. The health pandemic turned into one of the biggest humanitarian pandemic and crisis post Second World War and partition. Maharashtra and categorically cities like Mumbai, Pune, pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur etc. became pandemic hotspots both in terms of covid outbreak and human struggle to manage protection and social security issues. Initial few days the number, the scale, and the nature of deprivations coupled with multiple hazards were overwhelming for all of us. Initial days we were intimidated with the magnitude and funny, dangerous nature of this virus and it's impact beyond mortality and morbidity.

 

In this backdrop, UNICEF Mumbai decided to streamline its efforts to respond to Covid-19 and connect them with the actual needs on the ground in early April. UNICEF Mumbai began conversation with 5-10 of its NGO partners, who then added many members who were supporting the cause, as an organization or as an individual. The main purpose of this group was to exchange ideas, support with resources at the required places and execute rapidly while avoiding duplication in the relief and response work. During that time the immediate need was to support these migrants often termed as people on move (both inbound, outbound and communities who were stuck) with cooked food, shelter and medical needs along with hand and respiratory hygiene and personal hygiene products.

 

Slowly the platform of 5 to 10 partners turned into a collaborative Association agnostic to expectations related to visibility and funding and by end of April we had more than 70 partners and 100 members on board to support the internally displaced population with travel , health, social protection and security, cooked and dry ration kits, wash and personal hygiene kits and conditional cash transfers to manage there and their family needs in terms of rent, education, health and livelihoods. Then, the platform  launched it's flagship program called Jeevan Rath (Relief on Wheels) to support more than 150,000 migrants from different parts of Maharashtra to reach their respective destinations safely by bus, train (including special chartered flights) with special focus to children below 5 years, aged population, pregnant and lactating mothers. A 24 x 7 call and crisis management center and initiated to track be movements of the migrants from different parts of Maharashtra to states like UP, Bihar, Assam and other North Eastern States, Odisha, West Bengal, Karnataka, Telegana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Kerala and etc. The call center also gave required information related to Shramik Trains, Buses and private trains and flights sponsored by many organizations. Call center is still working to map te skills, reach out to dry ration kits and other grievance redressal.    

This platform came to be called the MAHA C19 PECONet (Partners who support with resources, Enterprises who provide solutions, Citizen volunteers who help on the ground, and individuals who sustain the impact. ‘O’ is for ownership, the glue that holds the team together) came into existence.

 

The MAHA C19 PECONet is a network of volunteers, corporates, government and technical bodies ,and civil society organizations who responded to the pandemic at 2 levels - the containment and management of the disease itself and responding to the humanitarian crisis by collecting and distributing non-perishable food, hygiene materials, water, sanitary napkins and basic medical support to migrant workers on mini mobile trucks in different places Maharashtra. In addition, the platform provided and is still providing support with cash transfers, livelihood and skill mapping (already more than 125,000 skilled and semi-skilled youth and people have been identified and process is going on with different corporates for Job training), and dry ration kits to people on the move focusing on dally wage earners, laborer’s from unorganized sectors, stranded population in urban slums, trans gender’s, sex workers and people in the tribal hinterland. All of this has been under one of the verticals called Jeevan Rath.

 

Jeevan Rath partners and volunteers travelled across Mumbai and Maharashtra, including the length of road between Pune, a hub for migrant workers, and Nashik, another hub. They met families, including children, sitting under trees seeking shade from the scorching sun as they journeyed north towards their home states. Some had used all their savings for precarious transport, while others were walking. Jeevan Rath provided clean water, food including non-perishable snacks for the two to three-day journey and arranged transport by bus.

 

The platform also has 9 other crucial verticals:

1.              Flush The Virus on urban WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) response in slums with OHOT (One home one Toilet)

2.              MHM in Covid Time

3.              Village preparedness and community resilience

4.              Capacity Building of FLWs and Service Providers on RCCE and IPC

5.              WASH in Health Care facilities in Covid Time

6.              School Readiness

7.              Mapping of reserve migrants for Shelter, Livelihood, Social Entitlement and Skill, and

8.               Real Time monitoring of continuity of Services on WASH during covid time

9.              Skilling and reintegration

 

The response has been a mix of human and technical approach through respectful partnership building. The Platform worked to drive results with a commitment and passion to contribute towards significant change without compromising the voices from the field.

 

The Covid 19 response in Maharashtra saw numerous stakeholders converge to provide assistance to the hungry and the hopeless through complex collaborations. Given the sudden and uncharted nature of the crisis, which was compounded by the lockdown that restricted all normal ways of working, new processes need to be established and even the simplest of actions required out-of the-box thinking. The Platform brought relief to a massive number of people who faced the double strike of a pandemic and an unavoidable lockdown and till today we could able to reach 1.5 million people from maharashtra directly and indirectly with relief, response, preparedness and resilience services,

Jeevan Rath – the wheel that keeps spinning bringing relief and response to the most vulnerable

Unarguably, the pandemic has exposed several fault lines that need to be addressed, and has also left a wealth of lessons. Moving forward, here are some takeaways that should inform our participation as stakeholders towards a strengthened community and eventually, a resilient nation.

 

·       Although WASH has for long been a focus for the development sector it had not gained much traction amongst the poorer communities. The pandemic has catapulted this domain to such importance that it is likely to see an increased acceptance of WASH-related behaviour. Capitalizing on this is necessary through robust and sustained IEC and behaviour change communications can lead to better uptake of sanitation initiatives, such as micro-loans for water purifiers, toilet construction, etc.in the long run.

 

·       The role of cooperation and collaboration among individuals and organizations cannot be emphasized sufficiently. While younger organizations benefit from the experience of older ones, the latter have much to gain from the former’s zeal, technological know how and modern approaches to problems.

·  Similarly, the Maha PECONet collaboration also paved the way for greater symbiosis between organizations that have a stronger fund base and organization with an intensive volunteer network. Common platforms elevate the potential of distinct sets of stakeholders and reduce redundancy in efforts, which means that resources are not concentrated at one spot and a wider base of beneficiaries can be reached. Replication and scaling-up of initiatives, not just in the case of disasters or emergencies, but in more ‘normal’ situations would help to increase the impact of various innovations. Long-term rehabilitation that is essential for vulnerable communities after any emergency is not possible without sustained cooperation and collaboration.

 

·       The pandemic can act as a tipping point for the use of technology in furthering the development agenda. As a response to the pandemic, the degree and urgency with which frontline workers have been exposed to digital media will transform the landscape of communication at the grassroots level into a faster, modern version. Perhaps capacity building processes will increasingly tend to be designed to suit digital outreach. Despite limitations like network, electricity and equipment issues, pros of digital interactions, such as reduction in travel time and logistic costs, improved accountability, etc., will be instrumental in a faster switch to the digital mode.

 

·      There is need to revisit our entire urban policy, spatial planning, more focus and investment on primary health care facilities similar to secondary and tertiary facilities and slum redevelopment plan focusing on  housing, spatial planning, social security, protection and entitlement. As we have seen in Covid mostly in all economic powerhouse and million plus cities of Maharashtra

·     Let us do not forget the silent disasters like pneumonia, diarrhea, and millions of death due air pollution, malnutrition and lack of immunization. 

      Localization of climate action to understand climate variability and disease spikes and revisit the DM Act of 2005 from the lens of urban slum settlement, migration and other intergenerational deprivations.

 

http://mahac19peconet.org/