Kerala Floods

A few days back it started to rain in Kerala. It rained more than it has ever before in that part of the country. Current situation is, the state is flooded with lack of disaster relief supplies. The transport and communication services in the state are at a standstill.

The government provided the state with 100cr of funding for the disaster relief work, the amount that they provide each IIT every year. Will this amount suffice for the disaster relief work of an entire state? Well ideally it can but the government forgot that the level of corruption in each level of the government hierarchy is this high that when the actual people who were supposed to be benefitted by this are able to get only 20%-30% of the amount.

The communities, NGOs, students as well as startups came up with campaigns to support the country's citizens who have been affected. The NGOs started collection drives to collect basic essentials from the root level that is the individuals of the societies. Students from Kerala who left their home for higher studies to other parts of the country are running all day long to accumulate and ship supplies to their native state. Startups like PayTM, BigBasket and other e-commerce gaints gave a dedicated option to donate money to the Kerala Relief funds and options to sponsor meals for people struck there. Like BigBasket let’s you sponsor a meal for 3 individuals at just Rs. 90 whereas PayTM lets you provide financial assistance irrespective of the amount. You can donate an amount as small as Re 1 to how much ever you are willing to do.

AICUF started a collection drive through it's countrywide network to raise the awareness of the current situation. Whereas the national media forgot to cover the situation that has affected millions. AICUF has a network which is spread across almost all the Christian colleges of the country. They have their annual community programs which are open for all irrespective of the religion. The community is a non-profit group which executes campaign for the well being of the society.

Big movements happen with small steps. Sometimes size doesn't matter. If you can help a individual or a group of individuals, you are doing something good. Do spread the word around the fellow countrymen need assistance. It is high time to show the power of unity. After all unity is diversity.