Hyderabad Woman's "Rice Bucket Challenge" Becomes A Boon For Those Who Lost Job Amid Covid

Hyderabad-based Manjulatha Kalanidhi's initiative called "Rice Bucket Challenge" aims to ensure that no one remains hungry during Covid

Late night or early mornings, Manjulatha Kalanidhi is busy connecting digitally. She uses the online platform called "Rice Bucket Challenge" to garner help from those who can give, to those who need it the most. Ms Kalanidhi is grateful to technology that despite Covid restrictions, she has been able to raise resources and partner with Donatekart, a crowdfunding platform. The contributions in kind are distributed with the help of on-ground NGOs. “Rice Bucket Challenge does not have a big network. My family and I work with on-ground NGOs like Robinhood Army, get lot of requests but they can't collect money. Like now, we are sending 400 kg of rice, 80 kg of dal and 80 litres of oil to a group of music artistes who are typically busy during the music season but are now rendered jobless due to the pandemic. Even if a wedding is happening, nobody is hiring them. So this lot is going to them," she told NDTV. "Rice Bucket Challenge" has been able to help the once extremely popular folk artistes' group Surabhi, whose earnings have taken a big hit in the past year.