GUWAHATI, July 17 ? Assam Foundation of North America, Inc (AFNA), a non-profit making, charitable organization founded in 1982 and registered as a tax-exempt organisation under the Internal Revenue Services Department of the Government of USA and working for the sole purpose of charitable causes in Assam, India and North America, recently held its annual general body meeting during the Assam Convention 2004 at the Renaissance hotel in Austin, Texas.
The meeting started with the presentation of the financial statement by the outgoing committee, which showed that, in the last two years, about USD 40,000 (about Rs 18 Lakh) were sent to Assam for various philanthropic projects in the state. In this meeting AFNA discussed about various projects they are currently helping in Assam, which includes Aaarohan, Sanjeevani (a rehabilitation center for disabled children in Tezpur), the Ship of Hope and the Media Fellowship project undertaken by the Sanjoy Hazarika led Center for North East Studies.
AFNA also recognized two persons for their outstanding community service. They are Dr. Dilip Kumar Datta from Rhode Island for his individual contribution of more than $25,000 to educational institutions in Assam in the last two years and Debojit Bora for successfully coordinating a fund-raising drive leading to the contribution of $4,600 (about Rs 2 Lakhs) to Aarohan. Dr. Dilip Kumar Datta had donated a considerable amount of money for construction of a Khelghar in JB college and a Convention Center in Guwahati University. Receiving the recognition certificate from Dr. Atul Sarma, founder director of AFNA, he said that if people wanted to do something, there are lots of opportunities in Assam. All that is needed is the drive and the commitment.
AFNA had also invited a national-level non-profit organisation ? Association for India's Development (AID) - to take part in the convention. During AFNA's general meeting AID did a wonderful presentation on all the activities they are doing in the North-east region, which includes their involvement with North East Network ? Dharikathi, Rural Volunteers Center ? Dhemaji, ERLISID ? Kokrajhar, Assam Center for Rural Development (ACRD) etc. In the last year, AID had opened a chapter in IIT-Guwahati. Through this convention, the members of AID NE-Cell were able to come closer to the Assamese community of North America, which, in turn, learnt about the projects that AID has been doing in Assam and other north-eastern States of India.
Another presentation made during the meeting was about Aarohan, by Dr Sangeeta Saikia. Dr Saikia took the attendees on a visual journey from the conceptualization of the organisation to its current state. Several younger members of the community were impressed by this presentation and came forward to extend a helping hand. AFNA has committed to a long term relationship with this pet project of Dr. Bhabendranath Saikia.
Apart from AFNA?s meeting, there were other sessions during the convention where topics related to the development of Assam were discussed. One such session was a panel discussion on "The Vision of Assam in the next ten years". This was conducted by Dr. Satyajit Dutta from Houston, Texas. Views expressed in this discussion were varied ? from investment opportunities, healthcare for the poor, flood control in Guwahati to IT industry in Assam. Dr. Amiya Das from Talahasee, Florida, presented a detailed plan on flood control in general and prevention of water logging in urban areas. In addition to this, a memorandum containing ideas and suggestions for improvement of Assam was presented to the attendees of the organisational meetings. This memorandum will be sent to the Chief Minister of Assam after incorporting feedback from members of the community.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that the esteemed guest artist of this year?s convention, Zubeen Garg, took his time to visit the booths of AFNA, had a chat with the volunteers and representatives there and expressed his interest to learn about the charitable activities that AFNA, AID and Aarohan are undertaking in Assam.