BENGALURU: Whether it is fighting the visible enemy at the border, or the invisible enemy — the coronavirus, he makes his mark. Meet Major Pradeep Shaury Arya, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and a recipient of Shourya Chakra, who is helping thousands of people as part of the Corona Warriors volunteer group.
When migrant workers from Jharkhand were leaving from the Malur railway station or when hundreds of people from North Karnataka were boarding buses from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda bus station, Maj Arya was seen distributing water bottles, biscuits and food packets to these hungry labourers. He came to Bengaluru in the third week of March to meet his father. When he was about to return to Mumbai, the nationwide lockdown was announced and there was no way he could go back. He then joined the volunteer team, coordinating between the government and the labourers, who are at the bottom of the pyramid and hit hard by the lockdown.
Now every day, he leaves home around 9 am and returns only late in the evening after doing his bit to help the needy. “In 2013, I was posted in Bengaluru. Later, I was transferred to Belagavi and then to Mumbai. Now, I can spend some time in my native — Bengaluru,” he says. Posted as Additional Commissioner of Income Tax in Mumbai, the 47-year-old Major Arya is certified by the Territorial Army and was part of a team that killed terrorists along the LoC in 2017. He also holds masters degrees in sociology, business administration, law and taxation and a PhD in sociology.
He also has a commercial pilot’s licence. “It’s unfair to take my name alone. There are doctors, pilots, army people, engineers, Home Guards and many others who are doing their bit for society. It is for the first time that so many people have come together for a cause,” he says.