By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Morigaon (Assam): Akidun Nesha is more than happy to receive a helping hand as she has to strive hard to make her ends meet. Nesha, a widow who lives with her son in Assam’s Morigaon district, is grateful that Indian Muslim Relief and Charities (IMRC) reached out to her and many others like her across the state.
“Our conditions are very difficult here. Festivals such as Eid mean nothing to us. Last time they (IMRC) came and helped us to celebrate the Eid (During Ramazan). We wish that they would come again. We have no money to buy food stuff to celebrate Eid,” Akidun Nesha told TwoCircles.net at her residence at Mori Muslimgaon, which is a kilometer away from Morigaon town, 78 kms from state capital Guwahati.
Akidun Nesha (left) with Hussain Shah.
Nesha, who lost her husband 10 years ago, had struggled hard to get her two daughters married in a nearby locality through her meagre earnings from daily wages. Now she lives with her younger son Azizul Hussain, who also works as a daily wager in a wooden furniture manufacture shop.
They live in a thatched roof house without electricity. They are not even aware of the government schemes meant for the poor or for the minority community for which the government spends hundreds of crores rupees.
Akidun Nesha (Left) with her son at her home.
“The lack of education is one of the prime reasons for this plight of these people. Above all poverty is killing them. Besides that, the youth here are not much active,” said Hussain Shah, a school teacher of the locality, who has been single-handedly trying for the uplift the plight of that area. Popularly known as Nabab da in that locality, Shah helped the IMRC to distribute the relief materials.
There are altogether 1,100 households in the locality, with more than 70 per cent living below poverty line. They are mostly rickshaw pullers and daily wagers.
Sahidun Nesha (centre) with her sisters at her home.
Another beneficiary of IMRC charity work, Sahidun Nesha, also a widow, is another happy person. The mother of five, however, said her locality can celebrate Eid – this time it falls on October 6 – if the amount of relief was increased. “We are thankful to them for their help. But a few families were left out. We wish all of us could get the relief materials equally,” she said. Her 17-year-old brother Nazimul Hussain, a rickshaw puller, is the only earning member of the family.
Sabina Sarkar, who is the Assam coordinator for the IMRC, said they have travelled to far off areas in Dhubri and Morigaon districts to distribute food items. “Besides, we are also focusing on the education and other sectors to uplift the plight of the downtrodden in our society.”