I have a plan to share with the readers which may be a solution to the problem. If 140 million people could donate at least one taka per month throughout a year it would be a big heap of money after one year. However, to collect charity and then distribute it to the seek is not my proposal, because this money will be exhausted one day. We need a "money generating machine" which will give money to the sick. For this, what is needed is to collect money to establish some money generating thing like a theme park, a shopping complex, or a private university etc. which will produce a lot of profit. It's that simple! People could also be encouraged to donate as much as they can, and they should be made aware that even a little amount would have a great impact, otherwise their health could not be ensured. This fact should be impressed upon them with awareness raising propaganda through radio, television, poster, and cinema with interesting and persuasive advertisements, while also incorporating moral, cultural and spiritual motivation.

About questions regarding feasibility, money collecting booths can be placed in the corner of shopping malls/shopping centres, and big groceries in cities and villages may be assigned the responsibility as the custodians for the safety of the booth and the money. In fact, I think, some organisation related with human development can undertake the responsibility, with the collaboration of the government. These organisations may supervise the custodian shops periodically. About the safety measure, a pool consisting of a group of people can be set up whose members, apart from the members of mentioned organisation, would have a secret code number to unlock and lock the booths. The booths may be brought periodically to a regional centre where they would be opened in presence of the authority of the programme who would also keep a record of the money collected. However, a small portion from the acquired money may go to the custodian, the pool, and the organisation to meet the management cost.

Let's make the calculation simple and easy for the readers. If our investment from shareholders throughout the country is fifteen crore taka, and we take it for granted that our profit is four crore, then three crore may go to the people (shareholders) and organisers (as well as their partners) as dividend and profit, and the rest one crore taka will be there for the affected people! However, we should keep in mind that this plan is hypothetical. As shares have resale value people can get back the complete return, and even more than that. And this plan is geared not only towards the sick people. The fruits of this programme can be shared by many others, like the family which has been ruined by natural calamity, or whose only earning family member has been killed in a terrorist attack. The significant contributors, or donors (at least 50 taka or more), can be given a coupon, and for the latter plan (modified one) the appreciable number of shareholders can be given the preference of getting medical service or other facilities.

The organisation, however, must think of deriving minimal profit from each share, and providing less of dividend, but, ultimately, none of the initiators, or the shareholders, would be washed-out as there would be a huge big market stretched across the country. As for the health issue, there will be a tremendous response and significant profit can be gained.

Admittedly, the story at the onset of this writing was apocryphal (untrue), and was intended to galvanise the readers into reading the article, and to think through something constructive while going through it. Finally, I would like to take the readers few years back with an incident about Amit, a youngster who suffered from severe illness, and we saw that people came through with spontaneous charity and they set up an unprecedented example of their heartfelt emotion. I am sanguine the same response that we saw for Amit can be achieved here from our tender hearted people if it is properly publicised. We can hope that someone will embark upon this programme to help make the promised land which will ensure health for everyone.

The writer can be contacted on umtmgir@ hotmail. Com