Social welfare initiatives by Cotton alumni amid COVID pandemic

GUWAHATI: The Alumni Association for Social Transformation and Harmony in Assam (AASTHA), an association of Cottonians formed by students of the 1975-77 PU batch of erstwhile Cotton College, has been carrying out a number of social welfare activities lately. Concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, to create awareness amongst the public regarding the importance of wearing masks, and also of wearing it properly to counteract the further escalation of the pandemic, a poster campaign is being carried out by AASTHA in various areas of Guwahati.

The posters emphasize the importance of maintaining social distance, frequent hand washing with soap and water and using alcohol based sanitizers when soap and water are not available.

Moreover, since educational institutions are closed on account of the pandemic, responding to the situation, video lectures for the HS 2nd Year students pertaining to Physics have been continuously uploaded since August 2020 on the YouTube platform for the benefits of students.

The rest of lectures can also be found in the same channel and on the Cotton University website.

Furthermore, AASTHA is associated with other ground level welfare activities. On the request of a local NGO - Mahabishnu Alok Sandhan Society of Bisennala village near Rangia, in October, 2019, the office-bearers and a few members of AASTHA conducted a survey to assess the locality's developmental needs and prospects. Accordingly, a total of 35 bighas of land was identified for community farming. Also, a number of water bodies were identified to be developed as fisheries. Again, horticulture cultivation was started in 10 bighas of land which was harvested just before the lockdown. During the lockdown, a medium size fishery covering an area of 4 bighas was developed. Presently, the available land is under horticultural crops. The necessary finance was raised by members of AASTHA and also, by the villagers themselves. AASTHA also sponsored skill-development training for making handicrafts out of water hyacinth for the womenfolk of Bisennala in February, 2020, in which 35 local women were trained. Moreover, AASTHA supported Surge-I Foundation, a not-for-profit company set up by one of its members, which has been actively working at Pathori rural cluster in Nagaon for last 4 years in skill development and providing livelihood for women.

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