Maruti Chauhan, 25
Co-founder, Hamari Silai

If the pandemic-induced lockdown hit anyone the hardest, it was the migrant workers. Football coach Maruti Chauhan, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Colaba, had heard the horror stories of daily wagers marching home on foot, and some of them not surviving due to starvation or accidents. Ambedkar Nagar, which has a population of nearly 20,000, majority of whom are daily wage labourers from Karnataka, UP and Bihar, was on the edge too, says Chauhan. After the first week or so, everyone started getting restless and frustrated. Living in crammed spaces within shouting distance of each other, didn't help. "I was sitting at home, because the school [Colaba Municipal School] where I coached had shut." He reached out to NGOs, corporates and patrons to support his cause. "We decided to tap into our contacts, sending them WhatsApp messages, asking if they'd like to support the residents of our slum." Within a matter of weeks, Chauhan and team had managed to procure groceries worth R10 lakh, which was then used to support 700 families over a period of three months.