Nagpur’s own Samaritan, who ensured NGO is useful during lockdown

By Moin Qazi*
Nagpur has been a traditional and fertile hub for voluntary organizations and social workers. It has been home to a number of activists whose social chromosomes have inspired them to undertake humanitarian work for their fellow brethren. The result is a confluence of so many rivulets of social activism which have merged into a vibrant social movement .This is one reason why several reformist crusades had their birth in the region.
A member of this social corps who has carved a space for himself through his committed service to the community’s underprivileged is Salman Ahmed. His social vehicle, Fikr Foundation which he founded in 2011, has been supporting wide ranging causes both at the individual and community level. His sister-in-law Dr Saba Ahmed is a pediatrician and manages the organization’s periodical health camps for children.
Relief and rehabilitation are the key activities of the organization. There are several slum pockets in Nagpur where rains are a regular hazard. Salman has developed a strategy over the years for rehabilitating the displaced population. House repair and medical expenses are two areas which consume a fair portion of the organization’s charity resource. Fikr Foundation also supports widows and orphans and provides aid for marriages of girls from indigent families. The organization’s support is in the form of transfer of relief amounts to the accounts of beneficiaries. Funding for the charity is mobilized through voluntary donations from family and friends.
The organizational skills of the Fikr Foundation proved very useful during the lockdown following the outbreak of covid. Foodgrains and other essential items had to be mobilized and then distributed to low income families whose livelihoods wee suddenly uprooted. A campaign was also launched for linking people with the Public Distribution System so that government relief material could be made available to them.
Salman is passionate about making education accessible for the slum population. Apart from running English classes for slum children he is also funding the higher education of aspiring and brilliant students who cannot afford the growing educational expenses .He also supports vendors to set up their own microenterprises .
Salman is an active advocate of shariah-compliant finance .He is also a vociferous campaigner for civil liberties and is actively associated with several national organisatons . Salman has himself co-moderated several national policy discussions.
—
*Development expert

The farmer's burden: How oil, war, and climate are rewriting the price of food

By Vikas Meshram The scorching flames of the Middle East conflict are now slowly reaching the kitchens of ordinary people. The true price of this war is paid in daily markets, vegetable shops, and in the shattered minds of farmers. Expensive crude oil, skyrocketing fertilizer prices, and rising agricultural costs are together creating the conditions for global food inflation — and this crisis is directly tied to what people eat and drink every day.

Economic nationalism under strain as Indian corporates turn to America

By Sandeep Pandey* U.S. federal prosecutors withdrew a criminal case involving allegations that Gautam Adani had bribed officials in India to secure solar energy projects, stating that they lacked sufficient evidence. Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani also settled a civil fraud case with the Securities and Exchange Commission by paying a fine of around ₹180 crore without admitting wrongdoing. In addition, Adani Enterprises reportedly deposited around ₹2,750 crore into the U.S. Treasury to resolve allegations that it had violated U.S. sanctions on Iran through purchases of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

India’s heatwave crisis: How concrete cities are fueling climate emergency

By Rajkumar Sinha* According to recent studies, urban areas are witnessing a much sharper rise in temperatures than rural regions. The planet is currently heading toward an additional 1.9°C of warming — far beyond the target envisioned under the Paris Agreement . A team of climate scientists associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has noted that India’s average temperature increased by nearly 0.9°C during the decade between 2015 and 2024 compared to the early twentieth century (1901–1930). In western and northeastern India, the hottest day of the year has already become 1.5°C to 2°C warmer since the 1950s.

Counterview

Search This Blog