Social media bails out 74-year-old auto driver from acute poverty
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Social media bails out 74-year-old auto driver from acute poverty

People took note of his troublesome situation and donated generously for him

Social media bails out 74-year-old auto driver from acute poverty

New Delhi: Nowadays, social media has become the most powerful tool to help someone. Almost everybody uses social media to consume and share content. Everything goes viral on social media like pawri, shweta etc.

Now, a 74-year-old auto driver Deshraj is in the thick of things and social media has come to his rescue to bail him out from poverty and struggles of daily life. Incidentally, people took note of his troublesome situation and donated generously for him. With the help of a crowd funding initiative, Rs 24 lakh was collected and the cheque was handed over to the auto driver.

It was the intiative of Humans of Bombay, who shared a post of Deshraj earlier. Humans of Bombay had shared the driver’s video with some ’pawri’ twist on Instagram reels. The elderly driver was seen saying, “Ye mai hoon, Deshraj; yeh mera auto aur humari party ho rahi hai.”

Humans of Bombay also shared a post, ”The support Deshraj Ji has received is immense because you all went out of your way to help him, he now has a roof over his head, and will be able to educate his granddaughter! Thank you so much.”

 

 

Local leader Archana Dalmia also shared a tweet, “Desraj is an auto driver on streets of Mumbai! His 2 sons died in an accident & suicide. He drives from 6 am to 10 pm to earn Rs10000 /month. You can find him at Khar Danda naka, Auto no 160. His no is 08657681857. We need to reach out to help. RT pl & Mumbaikars pl help. (sic)”

 

 

Deshraj had lost his first son six years back and two years afterwards, his second son committed suicide. After the death of his sons, he took responsibility for the whole family. In an interview with Humans of Bombay, he said, “It was my responsibility to take care of my daughter-in-law and their four children.”

To earn for the family, he started working for long hours, starting from home at 6 am and driving his auto till midnight to get around Rs 10,000 consistently. According to Deshraj, everything was worth it when my granddaughter told me that she scored 80 per cent in her 12th board and she was the topper of the class. On that day, Deshraj gave free rides to all the passengers.

Her granddaughter wanted to do a B.ED course in Delhi. Education in another city was beyond the capacity of Deshraj, but he had to fulfil his granddaughter’s dream. He sold his house and paid her fees. Then, he sent his wife, daughter-in-law, and other grand kids to a relative's house in his village. His granddaughter is going to be the first graduate in his family.

“On most days, we barely had anything to eat. Once when my wife fell sick, I had to run door to door begging for money to buy her medicines,” he said. The social media people were very happy with the news. It shows the power of social media. Many people were also commenting on the post and shared the video.