[Survivor Series] Without ration cards, we struggled to bring food to our table
In this week’s Survivor Series, we bring to you the story of Suba Shree, who had to struggle during COVID-19 as they were without ration cards.
![[Survivor Series] Without ration cards, we struggled to bring food to our table](https://images.yourstory.com/cs/5/79900dd0d91311e8a16045a90309d734/Survivor-series-1633355060900.png?mode=crop&crop=faces&ar=2%3A1&format=auto&w=1920&q=75)
I’m Suba Shree (28), and I live in Kamaraj Nagar of Nambiyur Block in Erode district, Tamil Nadu. My husband is Karthikeyan (29) and we have two small girls – Kayalvizhi (4) and Malarvizhi (1).
My husband has been working as a tailor for more than seven years. I’m not going to work these days since I have to look after my small kids. We got married five years ago, and we didn’t have a separate ration card for our family. We applied for a ration card, but have not yet received it.
When we enquired about the status of our application in the taluk office, they replied that the process was over, and the ration card had been issued to the ration shop. But the ration shop says it has not arrived yet. We were struggling to get our ration card.
Amid such a scenario, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the world and a lockdown was imposed in our country.
![[Survivor Series] Moneylenders take advantage of us knowing the police won't help](https://images.yourstory.com/cs/5/f5a7f3304b1211e9b6645b8ae897d03e/SS1-1613966025545.png?fm=png&auto=format&h=100&w=100&crop=entropy&fit=crop)
Due to this, my husband lost his source of income. He is the only breadwinner in our family. We are struggling a lot daily to feed our kids and it is very hard to buy milk too. Tamil Nadu government offered free ration and Rs 1,000 to all the BPL cardholders. But we are unable to get that welfare from the government as we don’t have ration cards. Making two meals a day is a big challenge.
During our struggle, Rural Education and Action Development (READ) – NGO supported us by providing a set of dry rations, soaps, and masks. It is a very big and timely help for us to manage our family. We fed our kids and escaped from hunger for nearly a month.
This COVID-19 pandemic made our family even poorer, and our economic status is declining by the day. We were victimised by so many micro-loans and debts. It will take a long time and heavy labour to go back to normal life. We are hoping to be better soon.
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Edited by Kanishk Singh