COVID relief and recovery – Anil Hebbar reports from Assam and Maharashtra

Bombay Sarvodaya Friendship Center addresses education, livelihood and housing rights in Mumbai.  Following the 2020 lockdown and ongoing pandemic BSFC has provided rations and run community kitchens, particularly for migrant workers while also training health workers in pandemic protocols.  When the second wave hit in 2021 BSFC took on medical relief, first setting up a 101-bed ICU hospital in Vittalwadi, and then collaborating with governmental and non governmental organizations in Assam to open a 300-bed hospital in Dhemaji district, Assam and conduct training for the government health workers.

On behalf of BSFC, Anil Hebbar joined AID Seattle’s virtual Milan to provide an update on the work done in 2021 with AID support:

Anil Hebbar manages Emergent Meditech, a medical implant company based in Mumbai.  In 1988 he participated in the west-to-east segment of Baba Amte’s “Bharat Jodo” bicycle rally, covering 5600 kilometers from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh over 5 months and has continued to work with NGOs and people’s movements ever since.

AID has supported Bombay Sarvodaya Friendship Center’s work in education and livelihoods in neighborhoods where residents are struggling for housing security.  During the pandemic AID supported their relief work and health outreach in Maharashtra and Assam, including the hospital in Dhemaji.