Rima Ghosh from Rangia in Assam was preparing for her UPSC examinations and planning to pursue a postgraduate degree when the world shut down. She had thought of using some of the funds her father had accumulated for her marriage to study further but after admissions were postponed for the time being, Rima decided to donate half of the funds to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund in Assam. She handed over Rs 1 lakh to Bhapesh Kalita, the MLA of Rangia and also the Irrigation Minister of the state.
For her, it was more important that the funds be used to help those in need during this worldwide crisis than for anything else. Rima, the Joint Secretary of the Rangia Unit of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) Assam, got in touch with other student members of the organisation who helped her take things forward. "My father has been saving this money since I was six years old for my marriage. I had thought of using it for my Master's degree but before I could act upon it the Coronavirus pandemic struck us hard. That's when I decided to donate the funds to help the people as far as I can," said Rima. "My fellow members of the ABVP helped throughout the process. The MLA came to Rangia and accepted the amount," added Rima who holds a Bachelor's degree in Education and aspires to be a civil servant.
Rima donated about half of the funds earmarked for her marriage to the CM's Relief Fund — Rs 1,00,099. "I am not getting married at least in the next five years. This situation demands our help, in any way we can," said Rima. Assam has been one of the lesser affected states with 43 people infected and one death but the numbers keep rising across the country — 35,026 citizens have been affected till date while 1,159 of them have succumbed to the illness that has claimed 2,34,393 lives worldwide.
