Eplus activity
Students showcase their debating skills
Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
Interactive session: Members of E-Plus Club at Dr. Lankapalli Bullayya College engaged in a group discussion, as part of the E-Plus club activity in Visakhapatnam. —
The points were shared equally among the members of the E-Plus Club at Dr. Lankapalli Bullayya College when they eagerly debated on the topic ‘NGOs and charity/ social work organisations do much better job of providing relief than the government’ that was held here on Thursday.
The debate was part of the regular weekly E-Plus Club activity and the members from MBA and MCA streams came out openly both in favour and against. While one group vociferously supported the government, the other took the NGO side.
Initiating the debate, Saibaba pointed out that the utilisation of the relief fund by government lack transparency.
“It is very difficult to ascertain how much funds the government has received and how much has been actually spent on relief. The corruption is very high in this case,” he said.
Countering Saibaba, Renu Rawat and Laxmi opined that it is very easy to blame the government and level corruption charges but one should not forget that the basic and future needs are provided by the government only. “Jobs to the jobless, land to the landless and loans to farmers are provided by the government and hence it plays a much bigger role,” they said.
Supporting their opinion, Sai Sumalatha and Lavanya debated that all major people-centric schemes like Arogyasri, crop loans, NREGA and other schemes are floated by the government and not by the NGOs or any other social work organisations.
Contradicting their opinion, Satish and S. Naga Babu pointed out that the government lacks planning and efficiency in reaching the effected timely, but that is not the case with the NGOs, who act promptly and quickly. “The bureaucratic hassles are more in the government departments and the relief material or relief amount has to pass through various departments before it reaches the actual victims. But the NGOs can reach them (victims) directly and at a quicker pace,” they opined.
Opposing their argument, Kumar asserted, “The reach of the NGOs are limited to a small area, but in the case of the government the reach is much wider and hence it takes some time to reach the effected people.”
Supporting the role of NGOs, Shiny, Jyothi and Satish said, “During calamities, the victims look for quick supply of basic needs like food, clothing and shelter and it is generally provided by the NGOs. The government relief takes time, as it has to move through the bureaucratic maze.”
Seizing the moment, Asha quickly responded by saying, “Apart from government help not reaching in time, we are also not sure if it is reaching the deserving most.” In the end, Krishna Kant and Ramana Reddy suggested that government should immediately shift people living in the low lying areas to save them from devastating floods in the future and should aggressively take up mobilisation of more relief fund.
The debate was monitored by mentors S.M. Rahaman, M. Anita Kumari, Anjana, Kameswari and R.V.H. Srikant.
SUMIT BHATTACHARJEE
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