Helping the distressed in time

Mr. A is an old gentleman. He is very poor and has too many obligations. As ill-luck would have it, he also lost his job because, he believes, of the conspiracy of his two colleagues. As a result, he was locked into heavy debts, particularly on rent count of his hired house. To help him, a former senior civil servant referred his case to the Religious Affairs Ministry which operates some kind of charity fund to help the people in need. But weeks and months passed by yet no physical help came to him.

Appreciating his pitiable condition, yet another senior civil servant, no less than the former chief of the said ministry, recommended his case to a subordinate office which deals with charity cases. This time the expectation of the distressed had become high. But it waned gradually as nothing came over the past months every time he inquired about the fate of his application, he was told that decision was awaited. And the sad thing happened to his surprise that his sponsor, the (former) senior civil servant had died. Now there was hardly anybody to push or pursue his case. And if at all it comes after such a long wait, how far it will be helpful to him is not known as his miseries have multiplied manifold. The inordinate delay in reaching the relief to the affected persons defeats the purpose for which it is allowed.

As to the inadequacies of relief, it does not need much elaboration as newspaper reports and personal experiences speak volumes for this. In one of the write-ups , a newspaper reported that at a particular time, in a particular area, the per capita relief allowed was around Tk. 0.90 (paisha ninety) only! Against this, private initiatives in helping the affected and the distressed people appear relatively better. At least they are quicker. May be this is because there is less bureaucracy involved. A case study may help in clarifying the idea.

A private organisation, in its board meeting during the recent peak flood period sanctioned an amount for undertaking relief operation. Just the next day they formed committee/sub-committee/s for conducting the relief operations in a planned and disciplined manner. All the members worked in a team something like on war footing. And the end result was that in a very short time, medical assistance was extended, and relief in kind and cash reached the affected persons.

Such efforts are needed to be multiplied and replicated. May be then we can perhaps minimise the sufferings of the people in distress in a somewhat meaningful way.