A collective for those in need

KOCHI: A collective that started as a union of like-minded people on WhatsApp to help those in need, The Distress Management Collective has gone a long way today. The members of the collective, all having their roots in Kerala, have helped out people not only in their home state but also in other places in the country during calamities both natural and man-made. The collective has top lawyers, bureaucrats and other personalities as members and has now launched its E-drive, as an initiative to bridge the digital divide in the country. 

“The drive also emphasises on reducing e-waste by encouraging recycling, reusing, and restoring e-products. We hope this would encourage the culture of the three Rs - reduce, reuse and recycle,” said Manoj V George, general secretary and spokesperson of DMC India. The collective is also taking into consideration how education in the country has shifted online owing to the pandemic. “However, it became difficult for students from financially backward homes to afford smartphones, computers or TV sets. There were also instances of suicides due to non-accessibility to a smartphone,” said Manoj, who is a practising lawyer at the Supreme Court. The core founders of the collective are Justice Kurian Joseph, Alphonse Kannathanam, Babu Panicker and A T Sainnudin.

“Through the initiative, we collect used computers, mobile or android phones and television sets, which are upgraded by DMC India through computer hardware volunteers. These gadgets are then given away to needy students, helping them continue with their online classes,” said the lawyer. Many students from the tribal areas of Wayanadu and Kallar in Thiruvananthapuram have received help from DMC India in association with various NGOs and Kerala Legal Services Authority. “We have already helped around 50 students with electronic gadgets across India. A core team works in pooling and distributing these e-gadgets with collection centres at Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kerala. We collect second-hand, yet useable computers and e-gadgets from the public at large,” he said. 

The collective has made it a point to provide necessary help according to the situation, instead of sticking to just one. “Be it the Kerala floods of 2018, the Delhi riots of 2019 or the coronavirus of 2020, the collective has been doing its bit. Relief in distress also needs to keep up with the changing times,” he said. The question ‘What’s up with you?’  during times of distress is a query as well as a challenge, said Manoj.
 “This query initiates a sequence of events that makes use of the power to network and connect to create the power to reconnect and reach out for mass cooperation,” he said.

Among the various activities undertaken by the collective, the main ones are providing dry ration kits, counselling, shelter and care for those who got stranded in different places across India during the lockdown, medicine and medical care, besides capacity building through webinars, Dial B4 You Decide- Helpline, Legal and Administration. 

“DMC India will soon turn into a registered society which is the first step towards development and growth from a mere ‘Whatsapp group’ to a collective in its true sense, comprising dedicated men and women,” said Manoj. “The only purpose of the DMC is the management of distress in times of crisis. It seeks to activate itself only in times when the state machinery comes to a grinding halt or finds itself paralysed by the many layers created by the rules and regulations. To put it succinctly DMC is a Rapid Action Force during crisis times,” concludes the lawyer.