Over the past one year, there have been several good Samaritans stepping up to lend a helping hand to the Covid-affected. From organising food distribution drives to providing financial aids and setting up fundraisers, there are various initiatives being implementing by the people to help the ones in need.
While there are many more who want to help, and several others who need help, what’s lacking is a proper system that connects these two sides—the helping hand and the needy.
In a bid to bridge this gap, six individuals — Alok Srivastava, Pushan Puri, Kinnari (Thacker) Dave, Shilpa Popat, Shivam Agarwal and Zubin Jimmy Dubash — came together to form TheKarmaNetwork.in.
On this platform, the ones willing to provide financial aid to genuine causes are connected with the ones needing it. The donations are directly sent to the beneficiary via the pledgers and not to the platform.
Sharing further insights into the platform, Shilpa Popat said, “It’s an open-ended, common platform where the donor meets the needy. On our platform, the donor makes the pledge to donate money of whatever amount he/she desires.
Alok Srivastava adds, "When we get a request from someone looking for financial aid, our volunteers carry out the due diligence on the case and if satisfied, we facilitate the transfer of donation. The money is sent directly by the donor to the account of the one in need.”
The Karma Network volunteers conduct a thorough check to see if the request they receive for help is legit or not. From education to health, financial help is provided across sectors. And the transparency of the platform allows the donor to know in which area his/her money is used.
“We don’t ask the donor to send money to us. In this way, the one making the donation is aware of where his money is put use to,” shares Kinnari Dave.
Says Pushan Puri, "While maintaining 100% transparency on where the donations are being used, we also offer 100% privacy to our donors, whose personal details are kept confidential and not published on any open forum."
Giving some examples, Shivam Agarwal says, "We recently helped a school of mentally-challenged girls, which had lost its founder to Covid. In another situation, an office boy was able to pay his kid’s college fees, and some street kids managed to get food supply for a week.
The platform receives help from pledgers from all walks of life and is currently striving to raise more pledges and help as many people it can.
Before signing off, Zubin Dubash says, “It’s giving for the sake of giving, with no expectation in return. The donors don’t even get tax benefits from this, but they still help, because it fuels their karmic energy by genuinely wanting to help someone in need.
(For those wishing to make a pledge and the ones in need of help can visit www.thekarmanetwork.in)
