In the modern times the most crucial institution, in fact the mother of all institutions, is the state itself. It covers all the functions of a collective, and makes the foundation of the modern day international system. One of the crucial functions of a state is to maintain a balance among different sections of the society and distribute the available resources in a just and efficient way. The state that does it is a successful one, and the one that fails to do it, loses validity in the eyes of the people. The natural and logical extension of the same function is to help those who for some reason are entangled into financial or other crisis. That is why states across the world announce packages and schemes for those sections of the society that are hit by some man-made or natural catastrophe. In all such circumstances, be it earthquake, flood or fire, people expect state functionaries to come to their rescue.
The point here is that in recent fire incidents in the city of Srinagar, many families were deprived of their dwellings, and the belongings. In this cold season, and the financial crisis thrust on us by the covid pandemic, people are already under tremendous stress. In such circumstances if a family loses its shelter, its suffering is beyond description. By announcing financial relief for the affected families the local administration has taken a very nice step. Even earlier, when we had some houses damaged in the heavy snowfall some assistance was announced for the affected. Such steps are always to be acknowledged. The concerned officials, while we admire them for taking such steps, also need to direct their staff to ensure that the assistance reaches the genuine families in a speedy manner. In this, the officials should also consider the self respect of the people who receive this assistance. These people are already devastated by the material loss, and we should not ravage their respect by making them follow the files from one table to another and then to another. The help should not come at the cost of human dignity.