Flood relief: students in the forefront

Sohail Rashid

ISLAMABAD, August 31, 2010: Students have always played an important role in the history of Pakistan to achieve certain goals. Currently, when the country is facing its worst-ever floods, students are again in the forefront to meet the challenge.

Having ‘fund boxes’ placed on tables, students are sitting in flood relief fund camps in extremely hot and humid weather. After collecting donations, they are making their transparent delivery to the flood-hit people through various channels.

In twin cities, students of National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Pir Mehr Ali Shah University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi (PMAS-UAAR), Preston University and some other academic institutions, including schools and colleges, are doing a remarkable job in this context.

“People are cooperating with us and we are trying to give our best for helping out people in flood-hit areas,” said Mudassar Aziz, a student of the PMAS-UAAR.

Atif Shehzad, another student, said that many of their classmates belong to the inundated areas, so it is our duty to help them out in this time of trial.

Ammar Barlas, a student of NUML, said that they have installed ‘fund boxes’ in all classrooms and set up a flood relief camp in their department where students are giving duties turn-by-turn after attending their classes. “We are giving funds and relief items to the university administration which is delivering them to the flood-affected areas,” he added.

Talking to this news agency, Mudassar Mukhtar, public relations officer at the NUML, said that the university is fully cooperating with students in their great effort for the affected people. The university is arranging relief goods and food items from the money collected by students and delivering them to the flood-hit areas.

“We have already distributed relief items worth Rs0.85 million in Nowshera and Charsadda,” he told this news agency. He said that a committee, comprising heads of all departments, has been constituted to monitor the transparent delivery of relief to the flood-hit people.