The NGO's team of 150 volunteers is working round the clock to procure and provide free oxygen cylinders to Covid-19 patients across the country
Harteerath Singh, community development director at Hemkunt Foundation
Image: Hemkunt Foundation
During the first wave of Covid-19 last year, Gurugram-based NGO Hemkunt Foundation, along with distributing at least 360 tons of cooked meals among migrant workers and labourers, also arranged for oxygen cylinders.
Now, in the second wave too it is procuring oxygen cylinders for those in need. But the difference is last year they would receive only 100 calls a month for oxygen. “Now, we receive at least 15,000 calls a day from all over India,†says Harteerath Singh, community development director at Hemkunt.
In the past two weeks, Singh has barely slept eight hours in all. On most days, his first meal is at 6pm. “The most crucial (life and death situation) SOS calls usually come between 11pm and 3am. It’s after 4am that the team gets to rest, but only for a couple of hours,†he says.
Hemkunt Foundation, which has been involved in relief activities since 2010 and has a team of about 150 volunteers, has arranged for 4,200-odd oxygen cylinders in the last three weeks. The foundation has procurement and backend teams working round the clock on the field looking for vendors and factories, says Singh. “And we obviously have a strong network to import oxygen from abroad,†he adds. As far as distribution is concerned, “…there is a set criteria. We only give oxygen to patients whose oxygen level is below 88.â€
Initially, the foundation insisted on test results of patients to provide the cylinders, but now, since even testing is difficult, they check the patient’s oxygen level. “Most cases are genuine, but we need to be doubly sure that the cylinder is going to those actually in need,†says Singh.