Fund raising on social media: NGO collects over Rs 50 lakh for deceased sewer worker's family

Tapping social media, donations totalling Rs 57 lakh have been collected to help the family of 27-year-old Anil, who died during manual cleaning of a sewer line of a residential apartment in Dwarka, a Delhi-based NGO said on Thursday.

The NGO -- Uday Foundation -- said it crossed the initial estimated target of Rs 24 lakh within 16 hours of a tweet showing the victim's son grieving by his father's body went viral on social media.

The NGO said the campaign has been closed now.

"So far we have collected Rs 57 lakh and the campaign has been closed on Thursday. We had set a target of Rs 24 lakh but within first 16 hours of a tweet showing the grieving minor son of Anil, we crossed the estimated mark.

"It was heartening to see, scores of people coming together to help the family of the deceased," said Yashwant Deshmukh, one of the founding members of the Uday Foundation.

A bank account was opened for Anil's family and the amount was transferred to the account and will be released to them soon after necessary formalities were completed, Deshmukh said.

He said 25 per cent of the collected amount will be kept in a fixed deposit in the name of the three children and another 25 per cent will be released for their immediate requirement since they don't have a permanent residence here.

For now, the family can avail interest from the fixed deposit and once the children turn 18, they will have the option of withdrawing the amount, he added.

The NGO said several people have offered to fund the education of the three children.

People from all walks of life extended help to the family of the sanitation worker who slipped while climbing down a sewer as the rope around his waist broke, following which he fell in the 20-feet deep sewer.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

As the news was widely shared on social media, several people extended help to the family of the deceased as he was the only earning member of the family.