Cyclone Amphan Relief

Padakshep's efforts during Amphan

Cyclone Amphan hit West Bengal on May 20, 2020, at the time when people were already grappling with the pandemic of COVID-19 and the economic pressure due to the lockdown. This was one of the most powerful cyclones to hit West Bengal in modern days. The devastation it caused was unprecedented.

We at Padakshep tried to contact our students, especially those who were near the coastal areas to gauge the aftermath. Many of the Padakshep scholars had suffered significantly. Some had lost their houses, some had parts of their houses broken. Padakshep decided to help those students in need. Since we did not have funds for this, we started to raise the money through a Facebook fundraiser campaign. We got overwhelming support and within a couple of days, we could collect what we needed. The monetary breakdown is below.

Donations and expenditures

Direct support to ~250 students who needed the most

After supporting our students, we realized that the destruction was unthinkable and there are many more students who had suffered a similar fate like our students. We decided to help them (NOT beneficiary of Padakshep) by sending ₹ 1000 to 1500 to buy books, study materials etc. This way we helped a large number of students. We collected names of such students from reliable sources (e.g. Inspector-in-charge of Jaynagar-Majilpur area Shri Atanu Santra, acquaintances of volunteers, family members of the volunteers etc). This way we collected names of the genuinely needy students. Here is the breakdown:

Number of Padakshep scholars helped – 9
Number of students (outside Padakshep Scholars program) helped - more than 250
- 16 (through Sabyasachi Mandal, Gangasagar area) List
- 147 (Joynagar-Majilpur area through Pravat Maity, Suparna Kantha) List
- 24 other students, recommendations from Trisha Nath and Upayan Baul List
- 64 (through Chirasree Sarkar, Joypul Barasat Area) List
- We spent ₹ 27060 on the book grant under Padakshep Library project.

Thanks to our volunteers and friends of Padakshep

Padakshep likes to thank all the donors for supporting these students in need. Padakshep also likes to thank Sabyasachi Mondal, Chirasree Sarker, Avik Sarker, Pravat Maity, Suparna Kantha and Chinmoy Khaskel for doing the work on the ground. Padakshep also likes to thank the Inspector-in-charge of Joynagar Police Station, South 24 Pargana district Mr. Atanu Santra for connecting us with the needy students of that area.