West Bengal’s PRC Delegation Treats Silchar Flood Victims

The People’s Relief Committee (PRC) of West Bengal sent a five-member delegation to provide medical assistance to the flood victims in Silchar, Assam, on Friday. The leader of the delegation, Dr Fuad Halim, told People’s Reporter that three PRC camps would be organised daily till Monday.

The delegation includes Halim, Dr Arnab Manna, Dr Anirban Mandal, pharmacist Abdul Kahar Lashkar and PRC member Rajendra Prasad. CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim had handed over the necessary medical supplies to the delegates at the PRC office in Kolkata on Thursday.

Assam, particularly Silchar, has been devastated by floods with almost nine lakh people affected, around 200 killed and more than 600 villages submerged. Rainfall in the third and fourth weeks of June broke the record for the last 121 years.

Salim on Thursday alleged that both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Assam and the Centre have “not taken the necessary measures” to help the flood victims. “When people are exposed to floods, the BJP government is dividing people in the name of caste and language. The Assam government has ignored the Silchar flood. In fact, it is creating a division between Bengalis and Assamese. Just as it divided people in the name of NRC, the government is now dividing flood victims.”

The PRC, which was formed on September 29, 1943, to help people affected by the Bengal famine, has always stood by victims of natural disasters. “The PRC started its journey with the goal of helping common people. When the government is not on the side of the people, the PRC helps them,” Salim added.

Earlier, the PRC had provided financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the flood victims. Besides, it has supplied medicines worth Rs 90,000.