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DEATHQUAKE;
RESCUE AND RELIEF
GUJARAT
GRIT
"We
had to coax them to accept aid"
How
civil society coped.
This
is not a community waiting with outstretched arms for the mai-baap sarkar's
dole. Pranav Joshipura, a lecturer who was among the first volunteers
to reach Kutch from Gandhinagar, tells a story that reveals the grit and
pride of the Gujaratis. "When we reached this village just outside
Bhuj, people-despite the disaster and suffering-refused to take food packets
or water. When we gave one of the men four packets of biscuits he returned
three and said he needed just one for his baby. In another village, when
we handed a bag of water pouches to two girls they just took one and returned
the bag to us. We had to coax people to accept aid."
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| OURSELVES
ALONE: Citizen Patel (centre) didn't wait to be asked to help |
This is also
a community that believes in overcoming odds. Just take the speed at which
Karsanbhai Patel, chairman of Nirma, came up with a solution to help homeless
middle-class people in Ahmedabad. Realising the availability of vacant
flats in Ahmedabad, he has already rented 400 flats and plans to take
another 1,600 flats under the aegis of the Nirma Foundation. These flats
will then be given free of rent to the affected people for a year along
with day-to-day utility items and a kitchen unit. Says Patel: "Most
of these people have invested a lifetime's savings in their homes. It
will be difficult for them to do this again in a hurry." As they
pick up the pieces the foundation will work out a financing scheme to
re-house these people permanently. Patel reveals that nearly 70-80 per
cent of the financing will come from donors and that the affected person
"will perhaps pay just around 20 per cent towards the cost of the
flat and that too at very soft interest rates".
While Patel's
scheme is unique, there are others, including the redoubtable Ambanis
of Reliance Industries, who are working towards rehabilitating members
of their community. Gujarati software professionals have pledged to raise
$5 million (around Rs 22 crore).
The Kutchis,
who control over 75 per cent of the grocery market in Mumbai, have the
ability to rebuild Kutch while the Government tries making up its mind.
Similarly, diamond merchants of Surat and Palanpur who have activated
their network. Ditto with the 50-lakh-strong overseas Gujaratis, who are
already working to adopt families or even entire villages.
Of course
the confidence stems from the Gujarati's innate sense of enterprise. Sure,
Gujaratis are traditionally wealthy. Yes, it is backed by a rare spirit.
But, let's face it, it's a zeal that is uncommon in this part of the world.
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