A homemaker in the city said she often has to switch to the more difficult earthen oven because she doesn’t have enough money at home for an LPG cylinder.

Pompa Mondal said she books a cylinder when the family has money but the double blow of the Covid pandemic and rise in prices has made survival hard.

“Money runs out quickly and it takes longer to earn now. When we have some money we book a cylinder, otherwise we let it be,” Pompa said.

At times, she has to manage with the clay oven for two weeks to a month because the mother of two has to prioritise other family expenses, which include her husband’s medical bills.

Her husband Amiya has a chicken shop in the interiors of Kestopur, off VIP Road, and business hit an all-time low during thelockdown last year.

“There were not many customers during the lockdown and there are very few even now, when everything has opened. We don’t see customers coming back in the same numbers,” Amiya said.

Earlier, on a Sunday, his shop would have 30 customers. Now, there are barely five. “We are yet to recover from the loss of the lockdown,” he said.

“We do not have capital to invest. In our business, we need to get fresh stock. We are in debt,” said Pompa.

On Thursday, Pompa and Amiya went to Bishop’s House in central Calcutta to get financial help that could infuse some capital into their business.

The Calcutta diocese of the Church of North India (CNI) has initiated a project, “The Neighbour”, to help people get back on their feet. As many as 175 families, irrespective of their religion, are getting help through the project that was launched on Thursday. Money, goods, cycles or cycle vans are being provided to people to ferry items and earn a living.

Each family is getting money and goods worth Rs 10,000-15,000.

“During the lockdown, Cyclone Amphan and the pandemic, there was no food in many homes. Jobs were lost and people didn’t know what they would do. We tried to address their needs and reach people with food, clothes and money but we thought about how to support them after that,” said Reverend Paritosh Canning, the bishop of the Calcutta diocese of the CNI. Apart from immediate support, there will also be skill development for others, he said.

“We have created a corpus and if the project is successful, we can arrange for more funds and continue this beyond a year, in a different form,” said Ritesh Sarkar, the secretary (finance) of the Diocese of Calcutta.

The need is acute. Many, like Sagarika Sardar, 28, who would go door-to-door selling apparel, and Mohammad Ibrahim, in his 30s, who worked as a salesman, have lost their livelihood.

“I used to work in a garments shop and my salary was Rs 10,000. Since losing that job, I haven’t been able to find another one. I’m yet to recover from the impact of the lockdown,” said Ibrahim, who dreads another spell of shutdown.

Sardar said she did not want to recall the kind of hardship she went through. “I used up the little savings I had to somehow buy food and I have no money left,” she said.