When the COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020, many transgender persons lost all their income overnight. Most were left out of government relief, and many had no ration card to fall back on. Basera stepped in.

Working with local organisations, companies, community leaders and the legal services authority, our team reached community members with:

Food and ration kits for families with nothing left at home
Food vouchers and nutrition support, including for pregnant women at the district hospital
Help with COVID-19 testing at the district hospital in Noida

In July 2020, the Asia Pacific Transgender Network chose Basera for its COVID-19 Response Fund. With this support, we recorded what transgender persons and people living with HIV were going through during the pandemic, including the rights violations they faced, and turned it into local advocacy material so that their needs could not be ignored.

The lockdown showed how quickly our community can be pushed to the edge. It also showed what a community-led organisation can do when it already knows every lane and every family.