BRAC 29 July 2021 afternoon unveiled the theme song for its “Dakchhe Abar Desh” initiative calling all to stand by the people who have lost their earnings amid the new waves of the pandemic. The theme song titled “Aloy Aloy Dakchhe Abar Desh” is written, composed and sung by Sharmin Sultana Sumi, lead vocalist of renowned band Chirkutt. Jahid Nirob, Chirkutt’s keyboardist, has done the musical arrangement of the song.
The launch event of the song, moderated by BRAC’s head of media and external relations Rafe Sadnan Adel, was live-streamed from BRAC’s Facebook Page. National professor and physician Dr. A K Azad Khan, BRAC’s chief financial officer Tushar Bhowmik, musician Sharmin Sultana Sumi, and eminent actor Moushumi also participated in the event.
Deploring that people in Bangladesh are still negligent about maintaining health and hygiene guidelines, professor Dr. A K Azad Khan said, “Firstly, there is no alternative of maintaining health advisories to prevent COVID-19. Secondly, everyone has to take the vaccine which is essential. The authorities should consider ways to make the vaccination process easier for people. At the same time, the vaccination coverage has to increase much more than now.”
Begun on 18 July, the “Dakchhe Abar Desh” initiative has primarily obtained a contribution of BDT 7.50 crore (75 million), half of which comprises a one-day salary donation from the BRAC employees and the other half is matched from BRAC’s own fund. The fund is being distributed to 50 thousand families.
Tushar Bhowmik spoke about the assistance and inspirations received from different quarters to the Dakchhe Abar Desh initiative. Grameenphone has donated BDT 5 crore to the initiative, while many banks are also contributing from their CSR funds. Nine banks have already committed donations to the initiative.
Regarding the background of the theme song, singer Sumi said “Bangladesh is now passing through a dark period. With this song, we have given a call to everyone to stand beside each other with whatever capacity we have. Only by acting together will we be able to overcome these dark times.”
Instead of solely depending on the government, people with comparatively better economic strength should stand by those who have lost their earnings in the pandemic, said noted actor Moushumi. “We can stand by the affected people with as much capacity as we have,” she said.
Responding to the call of the Honourable Prime Minister, besides the government agencies, BRAC and many other non-governmental and privately-owned organisations have been running such assistance programmes since last year. To continue the effort, BRAC has now come forward to assist 50 thousand families in the first phase. But this contribution is simply inadequate compared with the thousands of families struggling to make ends meet. Calling on both institutions and individuals to come forward to ease the sufferings of millions, BRAC undertakes “Dakchhe Abar Desh” to serve as a platform for all to make contributions. Details of the initiative are available here: https://www.brac.net/dakcheabardesh/