The Brave And The Helpless: An interview with Mrs. Shashi Azad

In light of the recent pandemic, many individuals and NGOs took it upon themselves to help the laborers and migrant population who had lost all sources of income and were barely surviving. One such individual is Shashi Azad, a social worker, affiliated with Bharat Vikas Parishad- a Pan India organization, it caters to the overall development of society, having a part in almost all fields and Vanvasi Raksha Foundation- focusing on the development of the tribal communities and their children so that they can lead better lives. Apart from this, she has helped many people such as the handicapped and visually challenged individuals on a personal level. She has been doing social work ever since she was a child and it is now, in a way, a part of her being. Along with her husband, Mrs. Azad took on the task of distributing food, ration, masks and in some cases, medicines to the underprivileged in her area. In a recent interview with her, she told us all about the work she did.

Q) What motivated you to start helping the migrant workers who were stuck?

Social work is something I have been doing since I was a child. It is something I love doing and will continue to do. I have done a lot of social work with my husband and children as well. It was nothing new for us to help people in such a way, I grew up seeing this in my house itself and so took this work without a second thought.

Q) Was it something the organization undertook or you did it at a personal level?

It was both! While working with the organization, I did not give up what I wanted to do at a personal level. The organization employed women would make food for the people in need and they would even make rotis (50 each). It was organized with the help of the Police, who would go with volunteers to the border areas to distribute it to the migrant workers who were leaving. We even collected money to make this food, in the form of donations, via the organization. Personally, we distributed food to many people, about 500 to 600. Through this process, I found that there were many people who would stand in the line again and again to get more food whereas people who actually needed it, were not able to get it. So I asked my helpers to make a list of all the people in the surrounding area who had lost employment and did not have the means to cook (on a chullah), including people in jhuggis. We then started to distribute food to them regularly. I also work with a lot of visually challenged people. Since it was not possible for them to come and take the food, nor could we go, I hunted a grocery shop near their locality and would pay for their ration.

Q) At ground level, how was the situation of the migrants? Aside from employment, do you think going home was the best option?

As I said, there were a lot of people who had lost their jobs, livelihoods and this pandemic did not make anything easier for them. I saw that even with the work we were doing, some people got in the line again and again. On asking my driver, I found that he had rations for a full year! I realized that the gap between haves and have nots only increased even if it was in terms of food.

As for the second question, I think they should have waited. To organize such a huge movement in the population, it was not easy for the government to arrange transport that quickly. While I understand that the people were desperate as well to go home, for them to just take to the road was, in my opinion, rather hasty and impatient. This can also be because the states they were going to did not welcome, as a result, they were left on the streets. The states themselves did not have enough facilities to quarantine every person that came because they had no time to arrange it. But, I can understand that when a person is under so much stress and tension, they are not able to see anything else. Their first worry is how to pay rent, how to manage meals and most importantly, how to work again. Another problem was that a lot of the food was being wasted. Many people would stand in the line again and again, but a lot who were hesitant, stood at the end, so by the time their turn would come the food would finish. Then several people were ‘lazy’ as well. An old lady who lived on the 3rd floor, refused to stand in the queue and eventually I had to especially send food to her house.

Q) How did you go about the distribution of food, considering the large populace of the area?

The distribution of food was difficult. I am an old woman so it was important for me to stay indoors and I would help from within the house only. We employed a few people who would cook food for the purpose of distribution and women who would make rotis. 2-3 volunteers would then go, with the help of the Police, to distribute food in areas where it was needed most. They would arrange it in packets and the Police would help maintain order. After contacting us, we would reach with the food and lay out three tables, where we would at the other end. People would come in a line and pick the packets. We did our best to maintain the hygiene of the food and packaging since it was in the middle of the pandemic and could not come in contact. With the Police, we had a tie up from the organization’s side. We contacted the SDMC (South Delhi Municipal Corporation) for whichever area we had to distribute in and they would send some officers to help us with it. We wanted a very organized way of doing things and probably that is why we never had to face clashes between individuals. They all came in lines and took the food patiently.

A Concluding Note:

There were a lot of other problems as well that people faced, other than food. We also made many masks for people to wear and provided medicines for whoever we could. Like a lot of heart patients who were regularly taking medicines were no longer able to because of the lockdown, so we would arrange for it and get it delivered. Since it was at a personal level, we could also only do so much. However, this whole pandemic has really made the situation worse for many daily wage workers and it was only our duty to help them.