Lockdown helpline for the disabled gets 500 calls a day

Set up by the Samarthanam Trust, it helps rush groceries and medicines to those in distress

A helpline for those with disability gets about 500 calls every day. It was launched in the wake of the first lockdown in March. Initially, it got 150 calls a day. The numbers rose quickly.

Run by the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, it helps volunteers rush to help those in distress.

Close to three lakh people have directly and indirectly benefited from relief work initiated by the trust in the wake of the pandemic, says Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar, founder and managing trustee.

“We had just closed our school and begun operating online when we started getting calls from people with disabilities, saying they had no rations and were in dire need of medical help. We formed a Samarthanam rapid response team,” explains Mahantesh.

The team rushed provisions and medicines to many locations. The trust has now started supplying PPE kits and ICU beds to government hospitals. “The PPE kits have to comply with stipulations. We make sure we don’t compromise on quality. We have distributed beds to about 15 government hospitals,” he says.

The trust has made one-time cash payments to those below the poverty line. “We have given Rs 5,000 to those in rural areas and Rs 7,000 to those in urban areas,” he says. Niranjan Suresh, media in-charge of Samarthanam, says the helpline showed the extent of distress among those with visual and other disabilities. Under the trust’s Vidya Prasad scheme, volunteers are delivering meals (lunch and dinner) to about 6,000 people with disabilities. Seventy volunteers work in shifts to ensure that there’s no disruption, he says.

Among the volunteers are those with disabilities, like Prashanth V B, manager of Samarthanam’s fundraising unit. “I have distributed 500 grocery kits in Banashankari, Jayanagar, Padarayanapura and BTM Layout. My left leg, from above the knee, has been amputated, but that hasn’t stopped me from reaching out to others with disabilities,” says Prashanth.

The beneficiaries are grateful. Guru Prasad, a visually impaired person, was a full-time employee at Nethralaya. He stopped working when the pandemic broke out.

“I had no means to support myself and my family. Had it not been for the grocery kits and financial help provided by Samarthanam, we wouldn’t have survived,” he says.

Who sought help?

A visually challenged couple had no way to step out and buy groceries and medicines. They called the helpline, which sent volunteers with supplies. Similarly, a bedridden child received timely help.

A speech and hearing impaired couple was in distress. The wife was pregnant. After repeated attempts to get help, they made a video and circulated it among their friends. The Samarthanam trust rushed to their assistance after the video came to its notice.

Helplines for the disabled

9449864786 and 9449864691

(Works from 8 am to 8.30 pm)