Man who helped Kutch during '01 earthquake now takes on COVID-19

The COVID19 pandemic is a new experience for many but for Dinesh Sanghvi it has brought back memories of another calamity mdash the earthquake in Kutch Gujarat almost 20 years ago The septuagenarian helping his village battle the pandemic shares with midday his experience of surviving two calamitiesIn 2001 only Kutch suffered Today the whole world is suffering I believe the situation is not as fatal as the earthquake We have suffered before we can come out of this too We have social distancing hygiene immunityboosting food and healthy mental and physical activities to protect us But we are so used to our lifestyles that following all measures is difficult said Sanghvi 71 He runs an NGO Gram Swaraj Sangh GSS founded by his father Mani Bhai Sanghvi in 1978A Gandhian Sanghvi assumed leadership of his NGO during the earthquake to empower villagesExperiencing the quakeBased in Nilpar village in Rapar city Sanghvi addressed by villagers as Dinesh bhai Sanghvi clearly remembers the January 26 2001 quake measuring 77 on the Richter scaleGovernment records show the death toll as 13500 but it was actually 25000 It feels like it happened only yesterday said Sanghvi who lives with his wife Rekha 64 in a house provided by the GSS The house damaged in the quake was reconstructed through donationsDinesh Sanghvis damaged house after the 2001 quakeMy 80yearold father fell from the stairs as he struggled to escape from our secondfloor accommodation The quake affected him psychologically He died seven years later said Sanghvi who did his bachelors in Rural studies in Agriculture and farms for a livingWhile helping the people after the quake I realised the gravity of the situation and my responsibility towards the society I came across Child Rights and You CRY workers who were helping children deal with the trauma They established daycare centres in a very short time I joined them and worked under the GSS banner Sanghvi saidGSS works towards making villages selfsustained empowered and independent Since the Sanghvi family had a sound financial background they were able to raise funds for their work They secured funding to rebuild schools and residential units after the earthquakeSanghvi believes his work empowered him and others to work for child rights and childrens welfare Sanghvi through CRY has worked to uplift children and the community in health and education sectors in 23 vands of Kutch district They built activity centres in 30 villagesvands hamlet where children do not have access to schoolsSanghvis work also involves providing development opportunities by strengthening the ICDS system capacity building of communities and state systems for ECCD Early Childhood Care and Development and building the agency of childrenAlso ReadFinance Minister announces Rs 900 crore aid for COVID19 vaccine researchSanghvi added I have never earned anything above Rs 2 lakhs per annum and do not own any house even today All my three children two daughters and a son could finish their education as my siblings would take care of their education and marriage expenses The only property I have is the ancestral 12 acres of farm and my siblings gave their share to me otherwise I have nothingRupal Bhai Koli a daily wage worker has been assisted by Dinesh Sanghvirsquos NGO Gram Swaraj Sangh Koli has a family of sevenAs per the teachings of my elders I have divided the land into three parts mdash onethird for growing seasonal crops onethird for fruits and onethird for growing pasture land and the earnings are only from the sale of this produce he saidExperiencing COVIDWith regard to COVID Sanghvi believes that such disasters are an acid test for society and the nation There is conflict between individual freedom and collective responsibility The first task right now is to think act and behave as responsible citizens he says His organisation has been providing dry rations and supporting COVIDaffected families avail government schemesGSS got a donation of Rs 20 lakh during the lockdown Of this Rs 2 lakh came from CRY Nearly 3000 families in remote areas have been supported with dry ration said SanghviOne of the mostaffected sections are daily wagers and migrant workers who lost livelihoods Sanghvi cites the story of Rupal Bhai Koli a daily wage worker with a family of sevenSanghvi believes that the pandemic is worse than the quake and has raised anxiety and fear among the poor In our project area no COVID cases have been reported But the wife of a pharmacist from a Public Health Centre PHC under the GSS project area died of it and her husband tested positive A doctor from another PHC was infected too We have seen a 50 per cent drop in the number of outpatients amid COVID he saidDinesh SanghviThere was widespread help for the Kutch disaster where the number of affected were relatively less and normalcy was achieved In COVID the effect is slow but deep You do not see a house falling down but the loss of livelihoods and the fear factor targets the roots of the family Sanghvi saidAlso ReadHerd immunity may come before COVID19 vaccine goes off the shelf AIIMS DirectorEven if there are no deaths due to COVID so far the psychological impact is far worse While relief workers came to assist after the earthquake no one can come now and say dont worry we are with you Sanghvi saidCOVID has also increased gender inequalities with increased incidents of children dropping out of school child marriages genderbased violence and child labour he concluded and excused himself from the interview to return to his fight against COVID and to help his community and its childrenKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news