Indomitable Covid warriors

These two city youngsters had left their plush corporate jobs to take up social work. When Covid-19 wreaked havoc across the country, they provided relief to the public in every way possible – ranging from supplying oxygen cylinders, arranging hospital beds to ration kits to those affected by its economic fallout. Nischith N reports.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought in death and bereavement across the world, but it also gave rise to some heroes who tried to lessen the misery of those struggling to cope with the disease and the economic fallout.

Two youngsters from Bengaluru, Puneeth T. and Saravana M. have worked tirelessly to address the issue of poverty caused due to the stalling of economic activity during the pandemic. Their passion for social work made them give up the corporate sector jobs. They volunteered to work in the Covid war room in Bengaluru during the first wave and later even set up public health care centres across India.

The duo formed Suriya Foundation, which has so far distributed around 5,000 plus ration kits, fed around 20,000 people, and helped more than 3,000 migrant workers reach their hometowns. They have also supported nine Covid designated hospitals, 14 PHCs and ICMR Belagavi by supplying critical medical consumables.

Both Puneeth and Saravana used their rich experience of working in various international development organizations, team management, program design and strategy to good use for their relief activity.

Puneeth told News Trail, “I have studied engineering but am now involved in social activity. During the pandemic, we initially started serving the marginalized communities, migrant workers by distribution of ration kits which was enough to sustain a family of five for a month and also distributed food by way of tie-ups with various voluntary agencies and NGOs. We have fed around thousands of people and supported around 10,000 families with ration kits. Later, after the lockdown was lifted and cases started to increase, we started strengthening the infrastructure of primary health centres and hospitals by raising funds from various CSR donors and donating critical medical equipment and consumables for hospitals and PHCs”.

Oxygen support

During the second wave, there was a widespread shortage of hospital beds and oxygen. With support from donors, the duo deployed oxygen-equipped ambulances and paramedical personnel to provide relief to Covid patients with breathing difficulties. These ambulances functioned as temporary oxygen centre, providing timely support to patients, and transporting them to hospitals.

“When the oxygen for the patients was in demand in the county, we supported with oxygen facilities in the district hospital of Anekal and also conceptualized the bike ambulance concept in the far flung forest areas of Karnataka - Tamil Nadu border,” Puneeth said.

During the second wave, Suriya foundation managed to gather support from more CSR donors and ran a fleet of 40 ambulances which provided oxygen support to the patients in need and also ferried patients from home to hospitals. “We also provided oxygen support to patients at home in case no oxygen beds were available,” Puneeth added.

The oxygen-on-wheels initiative was supported by Infosys co-founder Shibulal. They also distributed oxygen concentrators to the needy patients at home for free and collected and circulated it back to other patients in need.

After receiving attention and appreciation from the government and public. With the support of Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives (SFPI), they transported 165 concentrators and deployed four oxygen-on-the-wheels vans, which proved life-saving for those struggling to get oxygen support.

Feeding strays

Puneeth and Saravana also contributed to providing food for many stray dogs and cats that used to depend on food waste from restaurants, which were shut down during the lockdown.

Helplines

They had mapped the ambulances to Municipal Corporations’ Helpline Numbers and it received close to 6,000 plus calls. These ambulances were equipped with paramedic staff and continuous oxygen supply. They ferry patients to hospitals or administer oxygen on the spot to improve SPO2 levels.

They also had Tamara Reservations Helpline to support in answering all the calls that the helpline receives.

Setting up PHCs

Puneeth and Saravana also helped strengthen the health infrastructure by equipping PHCs with oxygen support and power back-ups.

According to the reports, they have set up oxygenated beds in PHCs across India starting from BR hills, Nagarhole, Bandipur, Edurumundi - Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and many more.

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