Golap Gogoi from Assam helps needy instead of performing wife's shraddha

GUWAHATI: Golap Gogoi, a 52-year-old man, from Assam’s Hojai decided to help the needy instead of performing wife's shraddha. This year, instead of organizing his wife’s yearly funeral rites Golap Gogoi decided to help the needy by providing food to 32 families.

Due to lockdown the situation of people below a certain threshold has been dire.

The State government has also appealed to its employees to help out five poor families on an average in their neighbourhood. This is an appeal made in the spirit of fellow feeling during the lockdown to fight against corona. On its part, the State government is going to float a website – Assam Care – on which every employee helping out the poor “in-kind” can upload his/her photograph.

State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said, “We’ve over 5 lakh State government employees who’ll get their salaries on April 9 or 10. A fourth-grade employee can help out three poor families of his neighbourhood and the Chief Secretary can extend such help to 10 poor families. Other employees can also equitably help the poor. Such generosity can give succour to around 25 lakh poor families in the State.

“The current crisis has led many States to cut the salaries of their employees. We’re not taking any such measure now. However, we’re going to accept the one-day’s salaries as a donation to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as announced by the SAKP (Sadou Asam Karmachari Parishad), but that’s also not mandatory. If any employee doesn’t want his/her salary cut, we won’t compel him/her for the donation. A day’s salary of the employees will bear the cost of one of the five pre-fabricated hospitals in the State.”

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