Jaipur/Kota/Udaipur: Volunteers have stepped in across Rajasthan to help deal with the shortage of critical supplies like oxygen and dispel misinformation about Covid-19 as infections have surged in the state.
In Jaipur, Isha Juneja, a journalism student, leads a group that tracks people, who have recovered from the illness and can help others by donating plasma. The group of over 500 volunteers verify leads on social media and help potential donors connect with families of the patients. She said when she started the group, she would receive 50 distress calls a day. “There has been some decline in the calls and now we get about 25 to 30 calls daily,” Juneja said. “If some people have oxygen cylinders but do not need them anymore, we connect them to those in need.”
In the Dungarpur district, a group of women volunteers have joined hands with police to encourage people to wear masks and stay home till the infection rate is brought under control. The group has also been creating awareness.
Dungarpur police superintendent Sudheer Joshi said this “Police Sakhi” project has been very successful. “The girls also visit important junctions of the city where they tell people about the pandemic and the ways to prevent it. They are present at pickets where they carry out important duties as volunteers.”
Similarly, young men have been helping people with hospital admissions and last rites in cities such as Udaipur and Kota.
Imran Qureshi, 37, has been ferrying oxygen cylinders from the refilling centre in Kota on his bike. He is a part of a 15-member volunteers’ team.
Amaranth Chaurasia, 52, who contracted Covid-19 along with his wife, Rani, 50, in Kota, said Qureshi helped them arrange oxygen as there was no one in their family who could help them. “Imran and his volunteers brought Oxygen from somewhere. We will remain indebted to him throughout our lives.”
Qureshi and his colleagues have also performed last rites in crematoriums and graveyards. “We are available round the clock for the service of Covid-19 patients and their families who are in dire need of assistance and cooperation,” he said.
Qureshi has also been facilitating hospital admissions and motivating those who have recovered from Covid to donate plasma.
Rahul Jain, Founder of Social Youth Club, and its president, Zeeshan Ansari, have been providing water and buttermilk as well as oxygen cylinders in Kota.
“…we have been doing this for over a fortnight now while we are running an Oxygen Bank in which we have 22 oxygen cylinders which we are providing free to those who are in need of them for refilling…,” said Jain.
Farid, 40, and his friend, Tauseef Germanwala, 33, have been offering food to people under home isolation in Udaipur.
