Geetanjali Chopra is the founder-President of Wishes & Blessings, a New Delhi-based charitable trust working for underprivileged sections of the society. She strives to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the beneficiaries as well as donors. Her efforts have been well recognised. Some of her recent achievements include winning the best Indian Social Enterprise Award by Action for India, best NGO in childcare in the regional category by Spirit of Humanity by Americares, and Womennovator 100 women Faces 2018. She has also delivered several TEDx talks, sharing her journey and experiences as a social activist. Excerpts from an interview:
How is Wishes & Blessings working for underprivileged sections of the society during the Covid-19 pandemic? How is the present work different from the pre-pandemic times?
Initially it was overwhelming, but in the last few months we have been able to do a lot more than what we were actually doing. We are now operational in seven states like Assam, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
What kind of different challenges are you facing now and how are you tackling these?
The biggest challenge during the pandemic is the economic challenge, which is not only for the social sector but for the whole world. There is a huge cash crunch and no money is available in the market. Initially in the last week of March when the Coronavirus struck, there was a huge cash flow and everybody wanted to go ahead and help people. We were getting random people donating money and asking to carry relief work. But since mid of May the entire economy faced huge cash crunch and we were equally hit by that. The biggest challenge is cash crunch and there is no money left to carry relief work.
How are you engaging with other NGOs working in the same space as yours thematically as well as geographically?
Partnerships have always been our USP. In fact when we started, we identified causes and one of them was ‘all together we rise’. The point is that social sector is big and there is so much work to be done. I totally disagree with people who say there is so much competition in the field, but it’s all about partnership and not competition. The only way by which you can make difference is partnering likeminded people who believe in same values, who believe that there is enough to be done and each one of us can make a difference.
Wish & Blessings is following partnering system in Delhi NCR and in other states. Also during lockdown it was not possible to move outside our homes, but we were on the field along with our partners and reaching out to people. One of our biggest operations was in West Bengal. In the last few months we have been able to help approximately 15,000 families and that has been great achievement and that is what partnership means.
How is the pandemic shaping the future course of work at Wishes & Blessings?
The pandemic has been a great teacher for us because it has made us realize our potential. In normal circumstances one could have never imagined the scope of our work like feeding 15,000 people, reaching out to remote tribal areas and providing quality food. It was absolutely mind boggling the kind of experience the Coronavirus gave us. Also at the organisational level there was huge expansion of relief work. As an organisation we need to learn the lessons that the Coronavirus has taught us. We cannot say everything is going to be normal. It has given us an edge to go beyond our reach. It’s been a great learning experience and the lessons we have learnt will help shape our future.
– Transcript by Mohammad Mujtaba
(An intern from Jamia Millia Islamia)