Lockdown Legends: When OutLawed showed us the power of a youth organisation.
Nishka Srivastava, the author of this article, is a passionate and enterprising STEM student who is currently working on multiple projects in the Junior Academy, finding scientific and technological solutions to real-world problems. She is also an avid reader, loves music and is a prolific public speaker.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a lot- it has educated people around the world about health, economics and policy-making. But one kind of awareness that is critical in these trying times is legal awareness- and bringing it to you is Vibha Nadig, a Youth Board Member at Reap Benefit, and her team at OutLawed.
“Legal awareness is more important than ever,” says Nadig.
She says it is important to see these changes in our lives through the lens of rights that have been curtailed- for example, the right to constitutional remedy. On one hand, people who are not aware of their rights are unable to protest injustice; on the other, people with an incomplete understanding of their rights are wreaking havoc by protesting reasonable restrictions. It is also important to understand our duties as citizens- we need to educate people about the idea that rights are a two-way relation between you and the state. You are granted rights but also have responsibility, not only legal but also moral.
OutLawed was founded 6 months ago, with the goal of bolstering citizen engagement with law- something quite lacking in our country, particularly in underserved/marginalised communities.
The plan was to do this through hands-on, interactive contact classes for schoolchildren, teaching them about our legal system through a lens beyond the contents of a typical civics lesson.
Their modules, which were set to be released in April, were delayed due to the lockdown. However, this did not stop the team, who came up with a series of online classes called Out Loud- one part community driven and one part guest lectures, the series has gained a lot of appreciation from students around the country.
In fact, it was on Out Loud that Nadig launched her uniquely designed fundraiser, to gather money in exchange for attending a talk by Dr. Aditya Sondhi on the topic ‘Constitutional issues surrounding the lockdown in contrast to the Emergency, and its impact on cooperative federalism, with an emphasis on individual state autonomy.’
“General fundraisers have saturated,” said Nadig, when asked about this format. “We were hesitant at first as OutLawed stands for accessible education and all of our other events are free; however, we were able to balance the need for funds and accessible information by saying that if you could not afford to pay, you could still attend.”
The fundraiser started off with a post on OutLawed’s Instagram to open registrations. While there was no upward limit to the donations and the minimum was Rs.100, attendance was free for those who could not afford to pay.
“It was all about the details,” Nadig explained.
“For example, we sent every donor personalised donor badges via email. It may seem like a small thing but I believe it went a long way to motivate and encourage people.” Dr. Sondhi himself was very supportive. Nadig said that she did not actually have a personal contact and reached out to him through LinkedIn. His response was enthusiastic and encouraging; infact, he was the one who suggested the topic. Some of the key points raised by him during his talk include:
- That this is not a time people should exploit and evade the law, just because scrutiny is lower;
- Lockdown does not mean other issues in society are over; one should prioritise this issue but not forget the others;
- Recognising your privilege is very important; people should understand that their economic privilege is actually the cause of the economic oppression of others, so they have a responsibility towards helping them out.
90–95 people attended the call, and OutLawed was able to raise Rs.50,000 in donations.
‘Reap Benefit was very helpful in identifying communities to donate to, once the money was collected’ Nadig shares.
She decided to split the money between underserved tribal communities in Chidambaram and Kanchithotti, the transgender community in Bangalore, and slums in both cities. “We all have a responsibility to donate responsibly and do our research,” she believes. “Information, even about schemes designed to help the needy, is not equally accessible to all groups, and so a lot of people are not able to benefit from donations. We wanted to reach those people.” She quoted the example of a weaver community in Tamil Nadu, who were severely impacted as a majority of the members of that community depended upon daily wages. Reap Benefit channels were used to translate the money to rations, and to distribute them.
A lot of the difficulties that could have been faced throughout the process were mitigated by OutLawed’s diligent team and thorough planning. One hiccup, however, was proving to people that they were a legitimate organisation, considering both the company and the people in it were quite young. Another challenge was the enforcement of social distancing rules during distribution, which caused a hold-up in getting rations to the slums.
But Nadig says that no contribution is too small. Even if one cannot donate monetarily, staying updated is important and meaningful.
“Be an active citizen. It is important to hold your government and fellow citizens accountable,” she concluded.
Find out where and how you can contribute here.
