A delegation from European Commission Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection (ECHO) visited Cachar district, Assam on 4th January 2023 for the closing of its Flood Response intervention, Humanitarian Assistance to Vulnerable and Excluded Communities impacted by Flooding, Assam.

Mr. Damien Blanc, WASH Technical Expert and Ms. Shivani Rana, National Program Officer for India from ECHO interacted with the community of Natanpur village of Kalain block to understand the effectiveness of the flood response.

The Village Development Committee (VDC) and Ward members briefed the delegates about Caritas India’s intervention in the village which started immediately after the flood in July 2022. The members explained the process of VDC formation and its proactive engagement in the implementation processes. The delegates also interacted with CASH programme participants. The program participants shared how the assistance impacted their lives.

The team also visited the water points and toilet repair sites at Silling Tilla Lower Primary School. The WASH Coordinator briefed about the design and action taken to rehabilitate the water point and toilet which was appreciated by the delegates.

A brief stakeholder meeting was organised at Hotel Sagarika Regency on 5th January 2023 to apprise the delegate about the impact of the response. Boloram Baishnab, Head Teacher, Saraspur Lower Primary School, Dipan Roy, President, Bhairabpur Gram Panchayat, Debojit Gupta, Coordinator, IAG-Cachar participated in the meeting along with ADRA and Caritas India representatives. Dipan Roy briefed the delegates about the various welfare scheme currently implemented by the panchayat. He also highlighted that the beneficiary selection process is currently going on for Arunodoi Scheme.

‘Orunodoi’ or Arunodoi is a new scheme of the Government of Assam launched on 2nd October 2020 to provide financial security to financially disadvantaged families. Under ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme, 24 lac poor households are receiving monetary support of Rs. 1200/- on the first day of each month. Debojit Gupta highlighted that there is a need for the integration of risk reduction components in government schemes, especially housing and sanitation. He further stressed that community-based DRR is the need of the hour. Boloram Baishnab shared his views on how school funds can be used for the maintenance of community toilets and water points rehabilitated in school premises.

Pooja Rana, Assistant Thematic Lead, HADRR, Caritas India and Sunil Simon, Caritas Austria and Rajan Pydimalla, Head of Program, ADRA India accompanied the delegates.