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 Charity
Alliance sets an example
Zafarul-Islam Khan & Nadim Ahmad
The
Milli Gazette, 1-15 Dec 2007
Charity
Alliance was established as a charitable trust three years ago to cope
with the emergency of starvation deaths in Murshidabad district of West
Bengal. Detailed reports about that emergency have been published in MG
and are available on www.charityalliance.in as well as in booklet form on
request.
Charity Alliance continues to work in Murshidabad as conditions have not
changed and the state government is least interested in rehabilitating the
victims of Padma river erosion, which every year eats up new villages
including houses and cultivable lands of thousands of farmers who then
move to the new banks of the river and start living on government or
private lands in an area with no work. They are denied even benefits
advertised by the state and Central governments for people below the
poverty line. Request of thousands of these victims are pending with
callous district authorities. Some do have BPL cards, but the quantities
of rice given are not sufficient. In this situation, Charity Alliance's
programme for distribution of rice among the most vulnerable and
disadvantaged of these victims continues.
In Murshidabad's Jalangi area Charity Alliance is continuously working on
three fronts:
1. Murshidabad hunger belt where ration is distributed to around 269
persons every week in normal days and to many more during monsoon floods.
A total of 20,464 kilograms of rice costing Rs 224,209 was distributed
during 2006-2207;
2. Charity Alliance also takes care of the medical bills of these victims.
Such aid was provided to 93 persons during 2006-2007 costing Rs 42,628.50.
Treatment was provided at Murshidabad as well as at Kolkata for more
serious cases;
3. Charity Alliance paid the fees of 149 children of these victims
directly to their schools. The charity also provided some other help in
the form of textbooks and school supplies to 149 children in Murshidabad
and Krishna Nagar in the West Bengal as well as to children in Delhi,
Faizabad and Sitapur. These are very poor children who would otherwise
drop out and fall into child labour or worse.
A total of Rs 154,115.50 was paid as educational aid to 348 children
studying in 15 different educational institutions in Murshidabad, Delhi,
Faizabad and Sitapur (see chart). In every case the fees were paid
directly to the schools instead of paying it to the children. School dress
and help towards transport was also provided to 11 students.
Murshidabad victims cannot be abandoned because in the current situation
they will go back to the previous condition when one or more hunger deaths
were taking place in this area almost on a daily basis.
Apart from Murshidabad, where
Charity Alliance has to keep a full-time paid worker, in Delhi all
work is done by The Milli Gazette staff, free of cost and all
advertisements in The Milli Gazette are also gratis. No trustee of Charity
Alliance charges a single paisa for his/her time and efforts. In this way,
Charity Alliance can claim that it puts every penny of your donation to
maximum utilisation in an environment where NGOs spend most of their funds
on salaries and perks, offices, promotions.
Chairty Alliance has also
provided small assistance to a number of needy and poor people to start
petty businesses, marriage of their daughters, infrastructure in some
institutions and poor localities. Charity Alliance has also provided small
amounts as help to poor Muslims in Delhi and elsewhere to meet their
medical expenses.
Charity Alliance launched its Quds Appeal last year to offer relief to
Palestinians reeling under Israeli occupation. Orthopaedic Surgery
supplies and small orthopaedic equipment worth around 25 lakh rupees (in
which Charity Alliance share was Rs 333,632.00, the rest was paid for by
other sister organisations in Delhi, Chennai and Calicut) was procured for
the Wafa Hospital in Gaza. These supplies are still in our offices in
Delhi as the Israeli authorities, without whose permit nothing can enter
Gaza, are yet to grant permission. Luckily these supplies are all made of
stainless steel and therefore do not run the risk of expiry. Hopefully
this problem will be solved in the near future and the supplies will be
airlifted to Gaza.
This year Charity Alliance has also helped the Palestinian refugees in
Delhi, most of whom have fled the US-occupied Iraqi hell. During Ramadan
substantial food packets were distributed to 258 Palestinian refugees in
Delhi. After Eid, further help was offered in the shape of cash assistance
to all Palestinian refugee families known to Charity Alliance in Delhi.
Charity Alliance will continue with its efforts to help, in whatever small
way possible, the most disadvantaged sections of our community and society
by providing them food, educational and medical help in whatever way
possible within the trust's resources. In doing so, Charity Alliance is
conscious that each paisa of your donation must be efficiently used.
Charity Alliance Educational Aid 2007-07
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Charity Alliance arranged the wedding of these two
orphan girls in Murshidabad
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Ghulam Kibriya, Charity Alliance rep. in
Murshidabad distributing food
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