Keen on becoming lifetime members of the organisation, more than a hundred people attended the Indian Community Benevolent Forum’s (ICBF) first Membership Campaign for the term at Indian Cultural Centre, last week.
The attendees shared a collective, common desire to support the noble cause of “providing succour and solace to the underprivileged members” of the Indian expatriate community. The chief guest for the event was R K Singh, Deputy Chief of Mission, Indian Embassy, and Co-ordination Officer of ICBF. Other distinguished guests present at the event were K M Varghese, President, IBPN; Milan Arun, President of ICC; Nilangshu Dey, past president of ICBF; N V Kader, current President of Indian Sports Centre and past president of ICBF; M P Philip, Principal of Bhavan’s Public School; and K M Jacob, Principal of Olive International School; apart from the committee members of the three apex bodies and presidents of ICC-affiliated organisations.
Sanjeev Sharma, Membership Co-ordinator, ICBF, told Community, “The membership campaign was a successful one. We were happy to witness such a great turnout of enthusiastic new members at such a short notice.” R K Singh, CO, ICBF, inaugurated the event by receiving five applications on stage resembling the membership campaign registrations. He also announced the opening of the new Office of ICBF within the premises of the Indian Embassy. Mahesh Gowda, ICBF’s General Secretary, ICBF, welcomed the attendees. Devis Edukulathur, President, ICBF, addressed the audience and encouraged them to be a part of ICBF activities.
Sameer Moosa, Joint Secretary, ICBF, and Dukhan representative gave an interactive  presentation on the routine activities initiated and carried out by ICBF members towards helping the needy fellow brethren and connected with the audience by explaining why and how every attendee should be a part of the this noble cause, and help the community at large.
Dey, a past president of ICBF, shared his experience of being a part of ICBF and explained how each and every attendee could assist his fellow Indians by helping in improving the ICBF membership. He also encouraged to extend the ICBF membership to school children emphasising the importance of the spirit of benevolence in young minds. Milan Arun, also a past ICBF committee member, shared her experience and assured complete support of ICC towards ICBF membership and activities. N V  Kader, a past president of ICBF, extended his staunch support to the cause and appealed to all those gathered to become members. Closing the event, Sanjeev Sharma proposed the vote of thanks.
The outcome of the event was highly encouraging with around a hundred new members and a hopeful promise for many more. The committee plans to do further campaigns at events of various ICC-affiliated social and cultural organisations, ICBF says.
Separately, ICBF, in association with the Ministry of Public Health, Qatar, and Atlas Polyclinic conducted their 28th Free Medical Camp for workers all through morning and noon of the last Friday of last year, in the Industrial Area. The camp provided free medical assistance to over 900 people from various labour camps and companies in Doha and the Industrial Area of at least six different nationalities. ICBF has been diligently conducting medical camps for the past several years.
To inculcate the value and importance of generosity, the ICBF, in December of last year, had held a children orientation workshop titled ‘The Art of Giving’, in which more than 50 students from various schools including Birla Public School, Bhavan’s Public School, DPS-MIS, and MES Indian School had participated. In the workshop, which included two highly interactive modules, the students were organised into teams and given real-life scenarios which had to be enacted upon after a brief group discussion.
ICBF, since 1984, is an organisation under the aegis of Embassy of India, Qatar, that voluntarily undertakes the task of providing succour and solace to the needy and under-privileged members of the Indian expat community in Qatar and also their families in India.
ICBF provides assistance to those who are stranded or are in distress. This includes those at the deportation centre, those who have served their sentences in jail for offences at Qatar, people who are in need of medical treatment for life-threatening diseases, those experiencing difficulties in obtaining legal advice and support. From providing food and ration to stranded labourers to consulting free medical camps on a regular basis, ICBF helps the community in several ways.