NGO members risking lives to provide plasma, oxygen cylinders to COVID patients in Bathinda

Sukhmeet Bhasin
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 10

At a time when families of COVID-19 patients are running from pillar to post looking for hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and other services, a city based local NGO, Samarpan, started by a group of friends have taken it upon themselves to help out such hassled families regarding the availability of plasma and oxygen.

NGO member Mukesh Kumar Goyal alias Monty coordinates with people in need of plasma.

“We help people with arranging and donation of plasma and oxygen,” Monty said.

In COVID-19 times, they have arranged more than 300 plasma donors, which helped around 900 patients to get treatment.

Even till now they have arranged and provided 9,000 blood donations when accident and cancer patients are in need of blood.

They have started distributing oxygen cylinders and are refilling the old ones and are also helping people to get admitted in hospitals at a time when the city is facing shortage of level-3 beds.

They are also trying to create awareness about COVID-19 on grass-root level to prevent the spread of the virus.

Apart from this, Samarpan members are also providing free meals daily to the attendants of the COVID patients admitted at the private hospitals in Bathinda.

It also plays a role in motivating people to get their COVID-19 vaccination done and has organised around nine camps and provided vaccinations to around 3,000 people in the city.

A couple, Arpan Jindal and Prerna Jindal, along with their friend Mukesh Kumar Goyal started this NGO in 2016. 

While talking to The Tribune, Prerna Jindal said, “We started this NGO with an aim to arrange and provide blood through blood donations to accident and cancer patients but with time many people have joined us and today we have more than 5,000 team members.”

She said they have also adopted 100 girls under Sukanya Garib Kalyan Yojana and since the pandemic started last year, their NGO and members are working tirelessly to provide all assistance and help to the people.

During the last lockdown, we distributed meals and ration packets to the tune of Rs 70 lakh to the poor people in the city, she said.

One of its members, Dravjeet Thakur alias Merry, has set an example by donating blood 66 times and plasma seven times.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.