Hyderabad: Crowdfunding balm to soothe Covid pain

Hyderabad: With COVID-19 wreaking havoc in economies and lives, particularly those of the marginalised sections, a few individuals came together and started Project-25 COVID Relief Campaign, a fundraiser on ketto.org, with the intention to support more than 200 families.

As part of transparency, funds will be directly transferred to the beneficiary bank accounts.

Karishma, a Chartered Accountant, Madhusudhan, an IT professional, Dr Syed Faheem, a dentist by profession and activist by nature, M A Sayeed, a software entrepreneur, and Israr Ahmed, a business analyst, are behind the initiative.

Faheem says, "The idea first germinated when we were out assisting NGOs to deliver food provisions in slums. There we saw first-hand the pressing need to support them not just by feeding but also by extending basic financial help.

We've seen commendable initiatives by the government, civil society and individuals aimed at feeding the poor and distributing food provisions at a time when the lower socio-economic stratum of our society is most vulnerable due to the lockdown."

"But, there is a dire need to support families in meeting their regular expenditure that involves a lot more than just food.

Essentials such as house rent, medicines, cooking gas and miscellaneous overheads constitute the overall household expenditure.

Our campaign is to provide help in the form of cash for the daily utilities and essentials. Every NGO is providing grocery and ration, nobody is focusing to fill this gap," others said.

In the last few days, they supported 220 families by providing them with necessary ration and groceries in Bagh Amberpet.

However, with the lockdown getting extended and the impact on the families being unbearable, they felt the families need financial support too.

They divided their campaigns into four phases: Phase I had a target of Rs 2.5 lakh which was completed in four days after the campaign was started.

Phase II has a target of Rs 5 lakh which is ongoing and so far has collected around Rs 4,67,039 till date.