Organisations to aid flood-hit students with school supplies

Punjab has been devastated by the recent horrific floods that have resulted in families losing homes, belongings and their means of livelihood. While parents lost everything they built, children lost something that holds their future — school bags.

For a child, a school bag is not just a bag — it is their future, their dream and their path to learning. Losing it means losing a part of their hope. To restore that hope, several religious Sikh organisations, including Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and Akaal Purkh Ki Fauj, a non-profit, have announced a school bag distribution drive for the flood-affected children.

Under this campaign, every affected child in Punjab — whether studying in a government or private school — will receive a school bag filled with seven notebooks, stationary and other basic learning essentials. Distribution will be done through schools and every school will verify the loss before delivering the bags. On each bag, children will see encouraging and motivational words like stay strong, stay happy.

This initiative will cover all affected districts across Punjab. The Akaal Purakh Ki Fauj volunteers have urged Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of flood-affected districts to instruct the District Education Officers (DEOs) to circulate this information to all schools, so that no child is left behind.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, in the executive meeting of the SGPC, announced that the organisation will provide school material and books to children who have lost their school bags and books in the flood-affected areas.

Akaal Purkh Ki Fauj, led by Jasvinder Singh Advocate, said the commitment to hold hands of people of Punjab goes beyond bags. “We remain committed to standing with Punjab in this hour of need. Alongside this campaign, we are providing free medicines to people through medical camps, organised by our team and in collaboration with other organisations. All medicines are being distributed under the supervision of qualified doctors,” he shared.

Akaal Purakh Di Fauj will be collaborating with Khalsa Aid for the distribution network. Government school teachers from Ajnala and other rural belt districts have also come together to provide books and learning material to students of their respective schools.