Offline, off track: No hashtag help for these hapless people

New Delhi: Social media has frequently proved to be a blessing during crises. But what about those who have no access to the online platforms but are in dire need—need a Covid hospital bed or oxygen support or have lost their employment and are hunting for jobs?
“I lost my grandmother to Covid-19 a few days ago and it was only later that I learnt that many people got help through Twitter. Had I tweeted my plight, who knows my grandmother would have been alive today!” said Hari, a car cleaner in Paschim Vihar.Disheartened by his helplessness during his grandmother’s illness, Hari is planning to return home to his village in Guwahati, Assam.
Neelam has a similar story. “I came to Delhi from Meerut hoping that my relative would be able to avail of better treatment here,” said the 28-year-old. “Now, I only wish we had stayed back. We aren’t getting a hospital bed anywhere and I have used up most of the money that I had brought with me.”
When asked if she had tried getting help on social media, Neelam said, “I am an illiterate woman. I don’t even have a basic phone. I am using my relative’s phone in Delhi and don’t know anything about Twitter and Facebook.”
Perhaps Nilabh Kumari, 54, could have got leads to domestic work had she been knowledgeable about social media. She has been fighting big battles for a year. She lost her husband in an accident last year which left her as the sole breadwinner for her family of six. Last week, she lost her job.
“I was working as a household help in Rajouri Garden, but both the families I worked for had members testing positive for Covid and asked me not to come then onwards,” said Kumari resignedly. “In the span of a week, I lost jobs at both these houses. Earlier, my husband and I collectively earned up to Rs 9,000, but after his death, working double the hours, I was making Rs 5,000. One of my daughters has tuberculosis.”
Ranjana too was let go at a beauty parlour in east Delhi’s Preet Vihar. “I used to do the cleaning and mopping at the salon, but last month, when the Covid cases started to rise, the owner asked me to leave, giving me a month’s salary as compensation. With the lockdown in operation, who will employ me?” she sobbed.
Carpenter Santosh is also in dire straits, having been prohibited from visiting the homes where he had hitherto been working. “Everyone has asked me not to come to their homes, and I don’t get calls for assignments,” he shook his head in dismay. “It’s like I am reliving the days of last year, only that things are actually worse this time.”