Amphan Devastation In Bengal: SFI Activists At Relief Work

Shuvajit Sarkar

The Didi-Dada (Mamata–Modi) duo in the state and centre have failed to address people’s issues and provide relief during the current crises in West Bengal. The Left and other progressive forces, especially students and the youth are playing the most significant role in addressing the problems of the common public. Along with the problems brought about by the pandemic and the lockdown, activists are now at the forefront fighting the added devastation caused by the recent super cyclone ‘Amphan’ too – with limited resources, but with conviction and care. Read this detailed report.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in India and the consequent unplanned lockdown by the government have distorted livelihoods across the country. In addition to this, the state of Bengal was recently hit by super cyclone ‘Amphan’, which has wreaked havoc in a large part of southern Bengal. It hit the state on May 20, leading to nearly 70 deaths and property loss of many lakhs. Amphan brought about huge damage particularly in the districts of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, as well as parts of Hooghly and Howrah. The most affected was the Sundarbans, which falls under the two 24 Parganas, where the people are still facing utter crisis.

On the day of the cyclone, activists at Hooghly’s Konnagar were prompt enough to reach various houses and provide dry ration to people, despite the pouring rain. They have also continued running the community kitchens that have been functional ever since the lockdown was implemented. SFI activists reached the remotest parts of the Sundarbans, providing the people there with basic necessities. Many of the organisation’s local committees throughout the state have also provided educational kits to children from the economically weaker families. Earlier, activists were helping out people whose livelihoods were destroyed by sudden lockdown; and Amphan added to this devastation.

SFI-led student unions have also come forward to play an active role in relief work. The Arts Faculty Students’ Union (AFSU) put in place an ‘Amphan Relief Helpline’ and stood firmly in solidarity to help the students of the campus. The union gave a call to figure out which students were the worst affected by the cyclone and provided financial help. The Presidency University Students’ Union (PUSU) gave a call to restore College Street, widely known as ‘Boi Para’ (popular for books) which has been badly affected by the cyclone. The word spread beyond the campus and members from all sections of the society came forward to strengthen the union’s initiative. The intelligentsia of the state also stood by the union. Besides this, the PUSU provided financial help to students and staff of the university post-Amphan.

Both the SFI-led unions have been able to unite students beyond political hues. PUSU provided ration to almost 42 members of the transgender community, whose lives were also destroyed by the cyclone. Monetary help was also offered to the common public. SFI activists of Calcutta University provided food and educational amenities to children in the College Street area. At Visva Bharati University, students together with Faculty Associations have been running community kitchens, providing people with food and other essentials in rural regions of Birbhum.

At Naxalbari too, a place which is popular around the world, the political scenario has changed over the years and SFI has been effective in strengthening the base of the Left movement there. Along with youth organisations, SFI has been collecting rice from various homes and distributing to the public who depend on community kitchens here. Activists of Ashoknagar, Canning, Durgapur, Murshidabad, College Street, Dumdum and many other regions have also been engaged in relief work since day one.  Several migrant workers, who were facing multiple problems, were aided by our activists at Medinipur, Murshidabad and other places, providing them with food and other basic goods. 

Since thousands of trees were uprooted by the cyclone, the organisation gave a call to plant 10, 000 saplings across the state, which too was executed successfully. The falling of huge trees onto main roads turned out to be a big issue in south Calcutta especially, and SFI actively helped out the NDF in clearing out roads and restoring that part of the city.

Ever since the lockdown was implemented, SFI activists by themselves, and sometimes along with activists from the DYFI, have been running ‘Solidarity Markets’, where vegetables and ration are distributed to people for free. As a true example of “physical distancing with social solidarity”, all this work is being carried out without any break till date. All across the state, but notably in the Two 24 Parganas, Kolkata and North Bengal, SFI activists supplied medicines and food items to the elderly who had no other means to get these themselves. Blood donation camps too were organised to ensure regular blood supply to blood banks during the lockdown. Masks and sanitisers were also distributed to the common public who could not afford these. 

SFI has also started providing the children with educational equipment kits called ‘Sudipta Gupta Kit’ and ‘Saifuddin Mollah Kit’, after the martyrs of the organisation who were killed by TMC activists. Started off by the Vidyasagar Local Committee in Kolkata, it is being done by activists at various parts of the state and has received positive response from the student community.

What have the state and central governments done?

While all this has happened, the state government has completely failed to provide any sort of relief to the people of the region. Many seem to have realised that the state and the central governments are reluctant to the basic problems of the public. In fact, some of our activists were even heckled by TMC’s goons. Its cadres have looted ration from various centres. These attacks, however, couldn’t hinder the relief work done by the students and youth of Bengal.

The central government, with the UGC and MHRD, are trying to do away with classroom teaching and introduce a learning mode system which will make education a very costly affair for students from marginalised sections. SFI, along with teachers’ associations have vehemently objected to the digital mode of education, which does not ground realities into account, because as statistics show, hardly 20-25% of the population have access to technology and the internet in the country. Added to it, Amphan has affected internet speed and facilities in the state. SFI, in their multiple official statements, have asserted that modes of assessment are to be decided by the concerned universities/colleges by taking into consideration the opinions of students’ organisations, faculty and staff associations, and the like.

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