India. Mumbai, Maharashtra. Sukanya Iyer is helping migrant labourers and the underprivileged during these tough times. While the whole world is grappling with the issue of COVID-19, Sukanya Iyer is providing food to the needy and the underprivileged.
A coronavirus warrior. With the help of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), Iyer provided rations to the Bombay Municipal Corporation school, where Adivasi students who travel from remote areas come to study. Many migrant labourers in need of food during the complete lockdown in the country contacted Iyer for help. She also provided food grains near the vicinity of Powai, and in and around Mumbai. Iyer extended her reach supplying food in the most remote corner of Ulwa & Taloja, Panvel in Navi Mumbai. She also distributed food to the construction workers in the Dharavi region of Mumbai.
In an interview with Transcontinental Times, Sukanya Iyer spoke about how her initiative to help the needy has been supported by various NGO’s, Rotary Clubs, and the RSS. Moreover, many individuals stepped into to help. She said that the pandemic has impacted the lower middle class and the poor the worst. “Helping one person might not change the world but it could change the world for one person,” goes a famous quote. Iyer models this philosophy by helping her neighbors to fight against the effects of this global pandemic.
Iyer shared that during the months of lockdown, though her domestic help could not come to work, she continued to pay their salaries. She even reduced the rent of her two properties in Chennai and provided financial help to her staff.
Iyer also distributes eco-friendly sanitary napkins to underprivileged women, even connecting with a self-help group that produces eco-friendly cotton sanitary napkins.
Helping the future of India. In our interview, Iyer shared that she started doing social work out of her love for children. She said, “My passion for children made me think to help them. They could be future IAS or IPS, officers, shining stars who could contribute to the nation.”
Iyra, who is also a teacher, shared that she is currently searching for sponsors who could provide smartphones to underprivileged children so the children could avail online learning
Giving, sharing, and caring is the mantra of Iyer’s life. While distributing food during the pandemic she says, “Hum honge kamyaab; hum hokar rahenge kamyaab (We shall overcome; we shall overcome someday).”
