Founder of Goonj Anshu Gupta speaks at XLRI. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Aug. 5: The basic needs of human beings are food, shelter and clothing.

People understand human being’s need for food, shelter but often overlook the need for clothes. The clothes bank of SIGMA (Social Initiative Group for Managerial Assistance), a body of XLRI, has taken up this issue.

On the inaugural ceremony of the clothes bank, a Delhi-based NGO Goonj came forward to inform the students about the need of cloth and how people suffer when they do not get it.

The spokesperson was founder and CEO of Goonj Anshu Gupta.

“When natural calamity hits people, relief in the form of clothes, food come in. But there is constant need of clothes among people. Nobody realises this. There are so many people in the country who die of cold due to lack of clothes or cover,” said Gupta.

“For women the need of a piece of cloth is utmost. People catch infection when they do not get cloth to cover their body. I have come across instances when a woman who was using dirty clothes became a patient of uterus cancer,” he said.

Gupta discussed some of the shocking realities of rural India, stressing on women.

“Clothes come during disaster, if people donate their used clothes and through dignity. Our main aim is to get clothes for people with dignity. People will have to work and earn their clothes so that tomorrow they can tell others that they have toiled to get hold of a piece of cloth for themselves,” said Gupta.

People often give away their old clothes as they want to throw them off. Often the clothes are in very bad condition. Though hapless people put them on but the donors do not give out of love.

Organisation like SIGMA would process the clothes and then pass it to people who need it. He said, the responsibility lies with organisation like these who co-ordinate the tracking system after the clothes are processed to make them wearable.

“The distribution system should be such that it would provide maximum benefit to the needy. Distribution should be done keeping in mind the geography and culture of the place. For example, salwar kameez would be of maximum benefit to Muslim women while saris would be beneficial for Hindu women,” said Gupta.

Goonj have also started to recycle furniture, utensils and other products that can be of any need to poor people.

Gupta appreciated the efforts and the amount of clothes collected by the XLRI organisation till July 31. He said that this is not just helping people but also a revolution to empower them with bare necessities.