It was in the month of October last year when 37 government officers of Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service (APCS) started ‘Project 37’- a crow funding initiative to give a fresh lease of life to the projects which get neglected by the government due to lack of funds. In these six months, the officers have been able to provide assistance in four projects withing the state, the latest being the fire incident at the Longliang Village of Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh.
The brainchild behind the project, Mr. Rome Mele, Circle Officer, Taraso, Papumpare district spoke with Indian Masterminds and talked about how the idea developed into implementation in these six months.
THE FIRE BROKE OUT AT LONGLIAN VILLAGE
The tragic incident which took place in the afternoon of 18 March 2021, shocked the whole district and the state as more than 100 houses got gutted under the devastating fire. Two people also lost their lives. The casualties included a five-year-old child.
The reason behind the incident has not yet ascertained, according to Deputy Commissioner Tirap Taro Mize’s statement to the media.
Not waiting for things to move, the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service (APCS) officers of the 2016 batch extended their helping hand by contributing a sum of 1.6 lakh to the Deputy Commissioner.
THE CONTRIBUTION
The amount was handed over to Mr. Taro Mize by DK Thungdok, EAC Lazu, who is Chairman of the `fire victims committee’ constituted by Deputy Commissioner Tirap. He was also accompanied by CO BorduriaLim Modi, who came on behalf of APCS 2016 batch for disbursal of relief funds to the affected families.
While speaking with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Rome Mele said “After the unfortunate incident took place in the Tirap district in which more than 100 families got affected, we at Project 37 thought of chipping our contribution to provide relief material.”
“The incident was pretty shocking and as so many people were affected, it was my responsibility on behalf of Project 37 to contribute in whatever way possible. As it is a continuous project, we will keep on helping people”, he added.
Apart from Project 37, many organisations and student unions came forward to help the affected families. The All-Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), Tirap, Changlang, Longding & Namsai Students’ Union Itanagar and others contributed around 16 lakhs during a three-day drive.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Mr Pema Khandu also expressed his condolences to the affected families. He also said that all the necessary relief has been extended.
A CROWDFUNDING WEBSITE
The government officers involved in Project 37 have provided assistance to the people by taking up four projects till now. This started with the transformation of a dilapidated building into a mini library at the Khimiyang block of Changlang district. Then a water supply initiative was taken in a very remote district of Arunachal Pradesh, followed by a project of refurbishing the school and its hostel.
After all the officers contribute their bit from their own salaries, an amount of around seventy to eighty thousand is pooled into the parent fund every month. However, this amount is not sufficient for the kind of work the officers often plan and execute.
Mr. Mele said, “I am working on a crowd funding website in which I am seeking help from a website developer. The website is in the beta version as of now and will give the option to contribute in any project we will be working on at that time. The website will contain the proposed, ongoing and complete projects with the amount of money which has been raised. People can contribute any amount of money as per their convenience.”
The officers would also seek help from the state government for their humanitarian projects.
