* Yesterday, nearly 15 million Taka was collected.
To aid flood victims, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement is conducting a relief collection drive for the third consecutive day today, Saturday, at the Teacher-Student Center (TSC) of Dhaka University.
Yesterday, various people from different professions donated such a large amount of relief materials to the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at TSC that it took nearly 50 trucks to transport them. After collecting relief items and cash throughout the day, a large number of students also participated in packaging the materials at night. The relief was then sent to the affected areas by truck. Today, from 10 AM, the relief collection program has resumed at the TSC gate and will continue until 8 PM.
On the second day of the program, Friday, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement collected a total of 14.25 million Taka.
After floods began in the eastern part of the country, Abu Bakar Majumdar, a key coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, announced the launch of this relief collection initiative through a press release on Wednesday. He called on all coordinators and volunteers of the movement to form volunteer teams in coordination with local volunteer organizations and the public in their respective districts and upazilas. The press release mentioned that a central representative team will coordinate with everyone to conduct ‘rescue operations and relief distribution’ activities for the flood-affected people.
Following this, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement set up a booth at the main gate of TSC and started the relief collection drive on Thursday. People from various backgrounds joined the initiative of the students. Some brought relief in personal cars, some in vans, and some in small trucks. The students at the booth noted down the names of the donors and the descriptions of the donated items in a register. In addition, many donated cash to help the flood victims, and these amounts were also recorded by the students. The students gathered the relief items from the vehicles and stored them in TSC’s internal sports room and cafeteria. After working hard throughout the day, the students also participated in packaging the relief items at night.
On the first day of the relief collection program, Thursday, 2.97 million Taka was collected through this initiative of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. After packaging, several trucks loaded with goods were sent to the affected areas at night. On the second day, Friday, a massive crowd gathered at TSC after noon to donate relief on the weekly holiday. On this day, 14.25 million Taka was collected in cash and via mobile banking, according to Lutfur Rahman, a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. Additionally, about 50 trucks were needed to transport the massive amount of relief materials donated by the people, said Akram Hussain, a member of the movement’s liaison committee.
As part of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’s program, people brought a substantial amount of bottled water, oral saline, puffed rice, beaten rice, biscuits, dates, and various other dry foods as relief. Students Susmita Kor and Orthi De handed over baby food, clothes, saline, water purification tablets, biscuits, and 500 bags for relief to the movement coordinators Ahnaf Saeed Khan and Lutfur Rahman last night. In addition to this initiative, a concert was organized at the base of the Raju Memorial Sculpture at TSC yesterday to raise funds for flood victims through ‘crowdfunding’. The concert, titled “Urgent Connection for Victims of India’s Water Aggression,” aimed to raise public funds, water purification tablets, necessary medicines, dry food, and sanitary pads for the flood-affected people. The event was mainly organized by leaders and activists of leftist student organizations. The concert ran from yesterday evening until midnight. Many of those who came to listen to the music donated relief materials and cash to the organizers. The relief materials were stored on the ground floor of the Social Sciences Faculty building of the university, with some kept at the gate of Suhrawardy Udyan adjacent to TSC. Meghmollar Bosu, President of the Dhaka University branch of the Student Union, a leftist student organization, stated that 2.14 million Taka was raised in six hours at the ‘Urgent Connection’ event. Additionally, about 20 truckloads of relief materials were collected for the flood-affected areas. After packaging, the relief materials will be sent to the affected areas.
Apart from these two initiatives, students from various departments and halls of Dhaka University are individually collecting relief and funds to support flood victims. Some are going around with small boxes to collect money, while others have set up booths to collect relief and cash. Alumni from different departments are also raising funds for the cause. The common goal for everyone is to stand by the flood-affected people.
