Story of Sajida
“Most days we had to go to bed hungry” sighed Sajida while recounting her ordeal caused by floods in her village in Assam. Sajida and her husband are waste pickers, with the meagre income of INR 50-100 per day. When floods inundated, they shifted along with their children to the relief shelter. Once the water receded, they were devastated to find their house washed away. The land, on which their hut stood, became part of the river due to erosion. With no money, reduced work they were struggling to provide food for children. Constructing a hut was a distant dream. The unconditional cash transfer came as a saviour for them. Sajida said with a smile, “the cash support has been a great relief as they were left homeless at the time did not know where to turn to”. Sajida used the money for house construction and remaining money for buying food and treatment for her ill children.