Devkali is an active member of School Management Committee (SMC) of Primary School Terahimafi in Banda district. She holds regular monthly meetings with SMC members and teachers and has kept the discussions around improving school education and infrastructure alive. Devkali is breaking caste and disability barriers to ensure children in her village receive quality education.

With no money or source of income, they relied on help from the church and the dry ration from the PDS that helped them manage somehow. Though the families in a slum are closely knit, and were helping each other out as much as possible, the condition of each family was similar and there wasn’t much that anyone could do. In Chennai, Oxfam India and BLESS reached out to 1550 households with food and hygiene kit. Arokiarani was one of them.

In June, just about when Zakruddin had run out of all options, a few neighbours told him about the volunteers from BLESS and Oxfam India. As part of the response, Oxfam India has been reaching out to some of the most marginalised communities across 16 states. And with ample support from its donors it has been distributing cooked food, dry ration, hygiene and safety kits, and distributing cash to the poorest households.