Even as authorities are failing to provide Indians the bare minimum as the country struggles during the second Covid wave and its attendant oxygen scarcity, private individuals and organisations are stepping up to what they can to ameliorate the situation, and prominent among these, at least in Delhi-NCR is Keventers.
The iconic Indian dairy brand with close to a century’s legacy of providing Dilliwallahs (and now beyond) with premium milkshakes and ice-cream is running a campaign in association with EduTennis, an initiative by the Amba Dalmia Foundation Trust, to raise Rs 1 crore to assist Delhi-based hospitals and grassroot organisations with their efforts in providing critical care to and securing oxygen for Covid-19 patients.
The campaign called Donate Oxygen India, which launched last week, has two main objectives: immediately provide oxygen concentrators and BiPAP machines for respiratory support to hospitals that are in dire need for immediate relief; and build oxygen generating facilities at hospitals to create a self-sustaining oxygen source to mitigate the issue on a long-term basis and make hospitals more self-sufficient.
Speaking about the first step, Agastya Dalmia, Founder and Director, Keventers and Managing Trustee of Amba Dalmia Foundation, says, “We have been in touch with the CEO of the Delhi Cantonment Board, SVR Chandra Sekhar, who has put us in touch with the Cantonment General Hospital medical team. We are in constant touch with Dr Ajay Singh, who is leading the COVID-19 ward. We have received a list of equipment urgently required by them and are in the process of procuring the said equipment.”
Reaching out to more hospitals for the latter objective, Dalmia notes, “We have connected with Moolchand Hospital and are in touch with them regarding setting up of an on-site medical oxygen plant at their Lajpat Nagar campus. We have received quotations for such plants and shared them with the hospital and await the technical specifications and capacity required.”
The campaign has managed to raise Rs 60 lakh so far from over 200 donors.
To donate:
Follow the campaign’s Ketto page
Follow @donateoxygenindia on Twitter and Instagram
@EduTennis on Facebook and LinkedIn and
@edutennisindia on Instagram