The latest entrant to the ‘Justice League’ of Padman, Waterman, Spiderman, Mountain man and other such everyday heroes is Helmetman!
Bihar-born Raghvendra Kumar, 32, a law graduate from Greater Noida’s Lloyd Law College has earned this sobriquet in Bihar and the neighbouring states, including Delhi. He is not only a life-saver distributing free helmets to motorcyclists but is also a career-saver distributing books among the poor but meritorious students.
“My friend KK Thakur from Madhubani in Bihar died on the spot in a road accident in Delhi because he was not wearing a helmet. His family was in shock as he was the only child. This moved me so deeply that I let go of my aspiration to practice law and instead provide legal support to the needy and the victims of injustice. And I started distributing free helmets to motorcyclists not wearing these on roads of Noida to Bihar,” Kumar said.
He quotes from a study by Harvard Medical School’s researcher, William D Singer, that 95 per cent of the total road fatalities in India can be avoided if the practice of wearing helmets is implemented.
Initially, this peculiar activity irked his parents who held back his pocket money. “I do part-time retail jobs and purchase the helmets from my earnings. Doing this has ruined my financial condition to such an extent that I had to sell off my Delhi house at Rs 40 lakh to clear debts and continue purchasing the helmets.”
In the last five years, Kumar has distributed more than 20,000 helmets in nine states, including Bihar and Delhi NCR.
Book donations too
One day, in between his helmet distribution, he donated a set of books to a studious boy hailing from a poor family in Patna. “After few months, the boy’s father rang me up and thanked me because his son had topped intermediate examination in college after having studied from the books donated by me. I got so emotional, I began asking for old and used books in lieu of helmets.”
This led Kumar to start ‘ER-11 book bank’ in 2016 from Greater Noida. “My efforts got an encouraging response from public. Books kept pouring in and I had to extend the book bank to Bihar, UP and gradually, Delhi.”
Since 2016, Kumar has distributed books among 1.5 lakh poor, meritorious students. “I have put up 74 book-boxes in nine states, two in Patna alone. I am saving money to set up new book boxes with helmets at 50 new public places in Delhi and Greater Noida”, he said.
The state’s Transport Minister Santosh Kumar Nirala honoured Kumar for his services on February 4, 2019, in Patna. Soon after, Kumar was felicitated by Police Superintendent of Kaimur, Dilnawaz Ahmad.