hnairji, long-distance mondin morning quarterbacking onlee. Apologies. Great work. But if ppl send money to Amazon/Whirled Vision it is certainly not because I dissed the Twin Elephants. People that clueless cannot be helped.
Having said that (and hope you succeeded in shutting the Whirled vijion musharraf) the CM**** does have a reputation to live down. The gyan on what happened there is neither fron neuj outlet nor politicians, but from ppl who sat like you, except far more frequently, next to the High Netas for decades. Utterly depressing, as you will probably find out in due course when the excitement settles down. Meanwhile May The Force Be With You!!
Practically speaking, if someone asks: "where should I send money NOW to help?" the answer is **NOT** the guvrmand's channels. Because they can get all that they can get from the Central guvrmand or state guvrmand credit, if not the vast reserves in the treasury. todin's neuj:
The Kerala government had sought Rs 8,316 crore as a special package from the Central Government for dealing with the situation. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who visited the flood-hit state on Sunday announced an immediate relief package of Rs 100 crore.
Are they going to treat your paise with any more respect/efficiency than they treat THAT?
The TA musharraf in disaster relief AFAIK is
distribution when done top-down. The guvrmand can only reach so many sources, because ultimately the guvrmand is a very few individual aphsars using their ophishial cell-phones etc to call up ppl and beg them to sell/deliver stuff. And here the State Govt. of Kerala has an absolutely biss-boor record of NOT PAYING BILLS on time. State aphsar is not empowered to give credit card to aam abdul and ask him to go buy stuff On Behalf Of The TwinElephants.
OTOH, a private relief agency can muster as many volunteers as the State can muster aphsars, and they operate on goodwill built up. Also, their ability to operate IS contingent on grassroots delivery performance. So they are more effective.
So the solution is **NOT** to ask people to pour their paise into the guvrmand's kitty, but to give it to local grassroots agencies that have the ability to get resources down to the individual relief worker. For instance, if Relief Worker Ayesha needs cash to fill her scooter's gas tank so that she can continue running errands, will the govt give her the funds or credit? Or get her 6th coujin in Belgaum to load up a truck with baby food and building supplies and send it to Aluva, will the govt move fast enough?
Also, really good relief agencies focus on rebuilding with improvement, not just relief. Govt takes way too long to do this. In the long term, the CM's Relief Fund does not need money because they ARE going to get Central money in large amounts.
CGI local (actually a terrific diplomat, completely changed my opinion of IFS) but in his farewell speech he could not resist showing his EyeEffEss training and went on about how
India does not need (you to come and build) toilets
And BTW, there ARE good Malloos donating to the CMDRF:
Notably, a temple in Keezhillam, in Ernakulam district has donated its treasury to the CMDRF. The Kaniyasseri Mahavishnu Temple has handed over donations it received in the donation box to the aid fund.]Notably, a temple in Keezhillam, in Ernakulam district has donated its treasury to the CMDRF. The Kaniyasseri Mahavishnu Temple has handed over donations it received in the donation box to the aid fund.
Authorities of the Thiruvairanikkulam Mahadeva Temple have also donated a sum of Rs 5 lakhs to flood relief.
The Mahallu Committee of a Masjid in Thrissur's Perumpilavu has announced that they will contribute two weeks of donation to disaster management. Many churches have also announced a contribution of Sunday collection to the CMDRF.
It is not just organised groups, that are making it count. Even individuals are making small but notable contributions.
Two kids in Kochi have broken their piggy bank to donate their savings for flood relief. Haroon and Diya, children of a Kochi-based couple Sidhique Mallassery and Fathima Siddique, decided to help out the flood-victims with their small donation.
"Haroon and Diya had a habit of collecting all the money they got in the past two years in their piggy bank. For the past two days after watching people donating essential materials to flood relief, they came to me saying they wanted to donate all their money to the children who lost their books and bags in the flood. They had Rs 2210 in their piggy bank. I know it is not a big amount, but I am really happy about their choice," Fathima Siddique wrote on Facebook.
Another kid from Kochi, Achu broke his piggy bank, the money which he had saved to buy a study table and donated it to flood aid.
A private bus in Piravom donated an entire day's collection for helping the flood victims.
So, who would I suggest?
1) [url=ht ... ief/]SEWA.See KHNA link above as well, it also goes to SEWA not to KHNA. SEWA is much more than KHNA, they come with India-wide and worldwide experience. Apparently just got a $500K donation in Houston based on their awesome response after recent Houston floods.
2) IDRF. Talked to the Big Cheese there yesterdin: the coordinator of the Kerala effort is an experienced coordinator and, well, Malloo and for once he has the opportunity to help his ppl instead of ppl far away.
Open YOUR hearts and Donate:
Online: (Designation: Kerala Floods)Open YOUR hearts and Donate:
Online: (Designation: Kerala Floods) [url=
http://www.idrf.org/get-involved/make-a-gift/
OR
Mail your Checks (Memo: Kerala Floods) along with your email-id
(for tax-receipts) to:
India Development and Relief Fund,
5821 Mossrock Drive, North Bethesda, MD-20852]
http://www.idrf.org/get-involved/make-a-gift/[/url]
OR
Mail your Checks (Memo: Kerala Floods) along with your email-id
(for tax-receipts) to:
India Development and Relief Fund,
5821 Mossrock Drive, North Bethesda, MD-20852
The above two (and they are linked) have a 30+year record (Maybe 200-year for SEWA) in saving and **REHABILITATING*** ppl in the hardest-to-reach places that the guvrmand baboon won't even hear about.
3) LOCAL church, mosque and synagogue leaders.
If ppl want to give to **LOCAL*** churches and mosques and Synagogues, as much or more than Temples May The Power be with them. Fantastic resources can be marshalled by places of worship, and they too have excellent accounting. Foreign conversionish*ts should of course be kept the **** out of there, no question.
Here is what I can find from Ulan Bator:
https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2018/ ... -help.html
Pls give my regards to the Chief Secretary and a duly respectful middle finger to the C* Himself.
Dileepji: thx for clarification, but with all respect, if the water level rose from below street level to 4 feet above inside 1 or 2 hours it was certainly not rain but dam release. Hard fact: these are ppl who have lived there all their lives. The Big Cheese who said "ain't leaving, water won't come up any further", "until the water touched his feet" is 94+ and a farmer all his life: his understanding of rain is a big better than the government's. Also, yes, connecting westward slopes to eastward slopes via tunnels/pipelines is a major undertaking, but maybe a lot small than building a dam at Idukki, let along Yellow River. Has been done when ppl wanted it desperately enough. Is it worse than watching this same playout next year, or say 5 years of reconstruction later?
**And building those things in Space is equally feasible, BTW, and shown carefully to be so. Maybe not to Malloostan PeeDubyaDee based on their awesome record of road-building and maintenance (look at the Kuthiran mess), but for nominally competent and hard-working and forward-thinking ppl.*** Even at Kuthiran, they have actually built the entrances to a 4-lane tunnel that is quite long, at both ends, though it must be now below water at both ends. Maybe next year we can read of the low drama as British Navy SEALS experienced from the Thailand caves reach the cars stranded in the high pockets inside the Kuthiran tunnel.
Why not? Why would you expect the tunnel to ***NOT** get flooded next year unless the monsoon fails?
Unable to find local temple/church/mosque sites collecting /organizing relief: I am sure they are out in the field working, no time and maybe no power to make websites. If you find any links pls post.
