Pooja's 2020 Hero is Sidharth, her friend

Pooja says: "My best friend Sidharth is my hero! He started 'Project Care-ona' when we went into the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The solo-initiative focused on spreading COVID-19 related health and safety awareness amongst the much-neglected rural communities. He collaborated with people across states and expanded the Project’s reach. To support local communities and generate meaningful employment in an economic lockdown, the Care-ona initiative encouraged rural handicraft industry in Rajasthan to start manufacturing low-cost masks with local-sourced materials. #vocalforlocal He was able to crowd-fund and, so far, has distributed more than 10,000 masks in the rural areas of Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Presently, he is undertaking skill-enhancement drives for school teachers in Himachal Pradesh in an effort to propagate low-cost low-bandwidth virtual classrooms. He has been doing all this while pursuing his master's degree from Harvard Law, from his home nestled in Shimla. Love you, Siddy Buoy."