In Punjab, the COVID 19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown resulted in a majority of informal sector women losing their jobs. Given this, the women members that SEWA Punjab engages with were heavily impacted, more so as a large number of them are the sole breadwinners of their family.
As soon as the lockdown was announced, SEWA Punjab immediately began monitoring the impact on its members, connecting with them through Aagewan leaders and over phone calls to hear their day-today challenges and the areas where they were struggling the most. The Aagewans and their field volunteers were guided to conduct need assessment in their communities based on which SEWA Punjab began its relief and support work, as follows-