sentinelgroup@gmail.com
Silent suffering of flood victims
Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I wish to draw the attention of the authorities and the public to the immense suffering caused by the recent floods in Upper Assam. Beyond the visible destruction of houses and roads, thousands of families have lost essential household items, food grains, clothing, and important documents such as educational certificates. Many have also lost livestock, their primary source of livelihood. For some, years of hard work, including valuable manuscripts and personal belongings, have been washed away forever.
While relief camps and emergency aid provide temporary support, affected families urgently need assistance in rebuilding their lives. The government should ensure speedy compensation, simplify the process of replacing lost documents, and strengthen flood management measures to reduce future devastation.
The people of Assam have always shown remarkable resilience, but they cannot overcome such disasters without timely and sustained support. I hope the concerned authorities will act with urgency and compassion.
Bismita Sarma,
Tihu, Nalbari
Public education and private schools
The reduction in the number of government schools across the state by 8,591 over the last decade by amalgamation under the National Education Policy is a gain of over 9.4 lakh private school enrolments. The objective behind amalgamating poorly staffed schools with integrated campuses is to offer education to children from the primary to the higher secondary level. It will be a meaningful reform if mergers result in better infrastructure, a larger pool of qualified teachers, improved learning outcomes and lower dropout rates. It is true that school mergers alone cannot compensate for inadequate infrastructure or persistent teacher shortages in the public schools. Single-teacher schools still functioning in many areas of the state reportedly require major repairs. Today, what we see is a large migration of students from government to private schools, as parents are willing to send their children to private schools despite financial constraints. This clearly indicates declining confidence in the government system. The real test now lies in whether the recognised policy instrument is translated into better education outcomes. Public education remains the foundation of an equitable society. Today, for thousands of children, government schools are the only pathway to a better society. So, the state's education reform largely depends not on how many schools have been merged but on how much it is able to regain parents' confidence in the system and how children receive the quality education they deserve across the state.
Iqbal Saikia,
Guwahati
CSR during crises
When floodwaters sweep away homes, livelihoods and hopes, silence from institutions with enormous resources becomes impossible to justify. The devastating floods in Upper Assam have wreaked havoc, displacing thousands of people and leaving countless families struggling for food, shelter, medicines and other basic necessities. At such a critical hour, every helping hand matters. Nationalised banks such as the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Indian Bank and others, along with major corporate houses, should step up and come to the aid of the flood-affected people through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds. CSR must not be reduced to token activities, ceremonial donations or publicity-driven campaigns. Its true spirit lies in giving back to society, particularly when disaster strikes. These banks and companies earn substantially from the people and operate within society. Therefore, they have a moral responsibility to stand by the community during times of crisis.
The government and regulatory authorities should facilitate the prompt and transparent utilisation of CSR funds for emergency relief, rehabilitation and disaster preparedness. A proper mechanism may also be created to ensure that CSR contributions reach the people who need them most without unnecessary delays. When people are fighting to stay afloat, corporate compassion must not remain high and dry. The present crisis is a test of corporate citizenship. The true measure of CSR is not what is announced in boardrooms but what reaches the hands of those struggling to survive. In a disaster, compassion delayed is compassion denied.
Dipen Gogoi,
Teok, Jorhat