An NGO that had started giving ration to old people amid the lockdown in May 2020 is unable to stop the distribution because many of the beneficiaries are yet to get back their livelihood even after almost a year.

Some of the aged are alone, left to fend for themselves. Some are abandoned by their families because their sons or daughters can barely manage to earn a living.

Among them is 67-year-old Subhadra Mondal, who worked as a help in a pre-primary school, and 61-year-old Om Prakash Shaw, who would drive a rented taxi and bring back home money that was enough for him and his wife.

Subhadra’s visit to her former place of work has not yielded any result because the gates of the school are closed. Om Prakash has developed a cataract and will not be able to drive till he gets operated.

The NGO, Calcutta Social Project, provides ration to these people every week and is unable to “abandon them who are already abandoned,” by fate or family.

The NGO had made attempts to wind up the project in December-January but the needs of such people and their abject misery forced them to make a fresh appeal to donors so that they could continue with the food aid.

“We started the food aid for people impacted by Covid-19. I was told that we cannot keep feeding people indefinitely but they are poor, old people and we cannot abandon them,” said Arjun Dutta, the president of the NGO.

But the help is not for anyone who queues up outside the NGO’s office. A survey is conducted, as part of which NGO teams visit the houses of potential recipients and assess their living conditions, before distributing ration.

Bharati Rajak, 70, would bring home some ration because her son, a washerman, barely earns anything now. He has to feed a family of four.

“Before my health failed, I would do the same work. Prior to the lockdown there would be 50 to 60 clothes a day, but now no one wants to give us clothes for washing. We barely get eight to 10 clothes a day. The lockdown has taught them to wash their clothes themselves and they don’t need us anymore,” said Rajak.

Then there is 58-year-old Keshto Samanta, a make-up artist with theatre groups and dance troupes whose earnings have gone down to almost nothing.

“Earlier, there would be 18 to 20 shows in a month. Now there are two or three. It is becoming difficult to make ends meet,” said Samanta, whose son works in an electrical goods shop.

Pushed by their situation, some of them, despite their age and failing health, have tried to get some work. Lakshman Das, 61, worked at a roadside eatery before the lockdown.

“They would give me Rs 6,000 a month but the hotel closed down following the lockdown. When it reopened, they did not take me back. Right now, I ferry drinking water to some of the houses in my area. I earn Rs 1,000 a month. But it is not enough for the two of us,” said Das, who lives in a Beltala slum.

The NGO has reduced the number of beneficiaries to about 500 (250 couples) from 1,200 to 1,300 till December. The cost of providing ration comes to Rs 31,900 a week.