OUR FRONTLINE RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
We are supporting 9500 tribal and rural poor families, across Odisha and Jharkhand, to overcome the health and livelihood challenges from the pandemic. We are using our extensive experience in emergency response and rehabilitation, since 1971, to help them rebuild their lives.
From relief to livelihoods recovery: Gram Vikas 75 days COVID-19 response update
The last 75 days saw Gram Vikas' COVID-19 response reaching more than 20,000 households in 664 villages across 10 districts of Odisha and one district of Jharkhand. Apart from meeting the immediate needs of communities, our efforts are now also focused on ensuring access to local employment opportunities along with providing dignified options for those who wish to migrate.
Update, News
A monthly income of ₹ 10,000 likely to reduce out-migration for work
A new study on migrant workers from Odisha shows that immediate and significant external interventions are needed to ensure that migration-dependent households in rural Odisha do not experience a deepening of misery caused by the pandemic.
Evidence, Photostory
IN ACTION
Wellbeing initiatives keep stranded migrant workers meaningfully engaged during the lockdown
An initiative, Khelo Bandhu, creatively engages young, stranded migrant workers to help them learn new skills while exploring their interests.
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Helpline, government linkages and outreach reassure migrant workers stranded due to the pandemic lockdown
An exclusive helpline for migrant workers combined with local government collaboration at destination sites resolves their food, accomodation and health issues.
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Household piped water supply keeps village communities safe during the pandemic
Solving a water crisis during the pandemic lockdown is next to impossible. But 67,000 households in rural Odisha are staying safe because they solved the water crises in their villages much before the pandemic hit.
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Rural women entrepreneurs find livelihood opportunities in preventing pandemic spread
Women in villages of Odisha are using their time to make protective gear to keep their communities safe while earning an income.
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New study highlights the devastation wrought by the pandemic on migrants from tribal and rural communities
The study notes that alleviating acute poverty, indebtedness, malnutrition and starvation deaths among the migrant workers and their families need immediate, simultaneous measures to be taken.
Evidence, Photostory
The pandemic forces women migrant workers to make different life choices
Women from remote, tribal Odisha who migrated to cities have decided to discontinue working and choose education instead.
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Kitchen gardens ensure access to food for families during the lockdown
Women’s efforts in the past on growing vegetables in their backyard nourished by the grey water from household toilets is ensuring a steady supply of food during the pandemic related lockdown in Odisha.
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Local government response brings much needed relief to families in rural Odisha
Timely distribution of food, pension and other financial assistance by the local governments helps the rural poor to cope with the stress of the pandemic outcomes.
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Uncertainty over their future looms large for migrant workers without work
The hotel that Ramesh worked at in Kerala shut due to the lockdown and he had to return to his village in Odisha in east India. He does not know how he will take care of his wife, young child and aged parents.
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Wives and mothers of migrant workers cope with the burden of separation while having to keep the homes running
With the men who migrated on work losing their jobs post the pandemic lockdown, women back home struggle with dual concern of survival and worry for their sons and husbands.