Ensuring Proper Nutrition with Ration Support Program

Current times have been particularly difficult for families surviving on daily wages – and with most families from West Bengal’s Leprosy Colonies relying on daily income from begging, rag picking and labouring work, the impact has been harsh. To ensure proper nutrition during this time, Udayan responded with distribution of ration kits to families, with the support of corporate donors, Wipro & SBI Life Insurance.

The nutrition of Udayan children was affected during the lockdown as it was becoming increasingly difficult for their families to arrange the basic necessities, despite rations delivered by the Government. Considering that many of our children and their family members are undergoing leprosy treatment or have been affected in the past, proper nutrition becomes even more crucial for them.

Despite government aid and support from ‘local groups’, it was evident that the members of our Udayan family would need more support to make it through extended lockdown with adequate supplies to ensure proper meals. 

In April 2020, Wipro Foundation extended its support of INR 6 lakh to provide dry ration for families facing the loss of livelihood due to COVID-19. Our staff members and community volunteers from the respective colonies quickly mobilized and coordinated with local grocery shops to finalize the rate of dry rations for relief work, with the support of our Director.  

With the help of Wipro Foundation, Udayan team provided dry ration support to 600 families in 10 colonies under the district Bardhaman Bankura & Purulia of West Bengal. Each family received 20 Kg rice, 1 Kg soybean, 3 Kg potatoes, 1 Kg masoor dal (red lentil), 1 liter of mustard oil, 1 Kg sugar, 1 Kg suji, 1 Kg salt, and 1 pc soap. 

Additionally, SBI Life Insurance that has extended financial support to Udayan for the year 2020-21 also allowed to utilize a portion of the nutrition fund to provide rations to children. The money was originally allocated to ensure good food and nutrition for our children whilst on campus. Now that kids are at home with their families, this was the best way to make use of available resources. An amount of 3lacs was harnessed to supply 1 month's ration to our 270 children from 197 families.