Azhar says he was poor himself when he started the initiative. He is still working from Hyderabad because he feels that hunger has swelled after the lockdown.
Azhar Maqsusi, a social activist from the city, whose initiative ‘Hunger Has No Religion’ by Sani Welfare Foundation feeds about 1,500 people every day in five cities across the country was granted the United Kingdoms Commonwealth Points of Light Award recently. The award recognises outstanding individual volunteers – people who are making a change in their community.
“Azhar’s contribution to society is incredible and has meant the difference between a meal or no meal for millions. There are many similar missions of selfless sacrifice and service, some emerging as a result of the pandemic, but the powerful ‘Hunger has no Religion’ has run for eight years, reaching the most vulnerable and delivering a powerful underlying message to all. I cannot be happier for him and members of the Sani Welfare Foundation,” said Dr Andrew Fleming, British Deputy High Commissioner, Hyderabad.
“I am thankful that I have been chosen by the almighty to feed people. I have fed the poor for 10 years now and will continue this until hunger is eradicated,” Maqsusi said. “I am also thankful for the support of my family, friends and others who have recognised my service,” he added. Azhar says he was poor himself when he started the initiative. He is still working from Hyderabad because he feels that hunger has swelled after the lockdown.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Express News Service / July 06th, 2021
The coaching and guidance center run at the Haj Bhawan under the Minority Welfare Department of the Bihar government provides residential preparation for government jobs and academic examinations. The Haj Bhawan started offering guidance first in Bihar civil services and is helping students in police inspector’s job test. Lately, the center has been in news for the success it has achieved.
Bihar :
Unlike other Haj Bhawan’s in the country, the Haj Bhawan of the northern Indian state of Bihar is not sending Muslim pilgrims to Mecca for Hajj. The Bhawan is doing a different and sometimes a more urgent and laudable one. It is in news for sending minority students on a job journey to secure top level state jobs.
The coaching and guidance center run at the Haj Bhawan under the Minority Welfare Department of the Bihar government provides residential preparation for government jobs and academic examinations. The Haj Bhawan started offering guidance first in Bihar civil services and is helping students in police inspector’s job test.
Fifty-three of Haj Bhawan’s coaching and guidance center’s candidates were declared successful in the recently announced result of Bihar Public Service Commission’s examination for the top civil state job. Out of nearly 1400 successful candidates, 101 were Muslim candidates.
Similarly, fifty-three Haj Bhawan’s candidates were selected for the post of Sub Inspector in Bihar Police. Importantly, 19 successful candidates in the BPSC exam and 11 in the police exam are female.
Of late, the Bihar government’s initiative to provide ‘coaching’ to the students for government job examinations has been quite a success. Bihar has also seen the success of privately run Rahmani 30 for Muslim students for engineering and medical entrance tests.
Maulana Mazharul Haque Arabic and Persian University is the nodal agency for the government’s state coaching scheme. While the facilities are free here, only Rs. 3500 are charged as mess fee. For those whose candidates whose families cannot even afford that and are economically weak, the mess fee is waived off.
This coaching and guidance center was established in the financial year 2006-07. Initially, it struggled but since the year 2010, it has been bringing success to the state. Till 2019, 1517 candidates have been selected for jobs from here out of 4777 selected candidates for coaching. In 2019-20 the centre gave coaching to 860 and in 2020-2021, the number of students who received coaching was 568.
The centre promises to provide free residential coaching for the jobs offered by Bihar Public Service Commission, general police jobs like sub-inspectors and constables, jobs offered by Railways and staff selection commission. The centre also provides coaching for the preparation of the University Grants Commission’s exams like the National Eligibility Test (NET) and Junior Research Fellow (JRF). It also gives coaching for Teachers Eligibility Tes (TET).
However, the success in Bihar Public Service Commission’s exam is getting all the accolades to this center at Haj Bhawan. The center conducts entrance tests for its different coaching programmes. For the BPSC jobs, each year 150 candidates are selected out of nearly 1000 candidates who sit for its entrance test. The entrance test is advertised in the local newspapers and on social media too.
Features of the Center Mohammad Rashid Hussain is the coordinator of this coaching and guidance centre. He has studied at Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) and Hamdard Study Circle. He did his masters in Persian and Central Asian Studies from JNU, and qualified for JRF and SRF. Hussain later moved to Hamdard Study Circle. In 2007, he cleared the BPSC examination and joined Bihar Administrative Service.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Hussain said that he has adopted the model from Hamdard Study Circle. “The 24 hours open library, test series, lectures by the top experts and online-offline study materials are the salient features of this center,” he said.
He said that the environment of group study is quite helpful. “Discipline is quite strict here. No one needs to go outside to get anything related to their studies,” Hussain said, who also works as CEO of Bihar Haj Committee.
According to Hussain, the mock interview preparation at the Centre is quite successful. “So much so, that even non-minority students approach us for the interview and this service is provided to them,” he added.
Hussain said that the girl candidates get maximum safety measures at the Centre, and “this keeps them focused in their preparations.” The girl candidates are provided separate rooms, mess and prayer hall. There are two female wardens for them.
What inspires candidates at the Centre Mohammad Adil Bilal got 22nd rank in BPSC’s examination and would be a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy SP) after training. Adil’s father teaches English at a college in Darbhanga.
Talking about his success, Adil said that the coordination between seniors and juniors at the Centre “worked wonders for him.” He said that seniors were very helpful in pointing out the shortcomings and suggesting ways for improvement.
Razia Sultan, an engineer by profession, was also selected for the post of Dy SP. In fact, it is claimed that she is the first Muslim lady in Bihar to get this post directly. She joined the center after clearing the mains examination.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, she said that “she got a lot of motivation here.” She appreciates the guidance for the interview.
Noorjahan, another successful candidate, told TwoCircles.net that she got the best training here in personality development. She quotes an oft-repeated saying by the center’s coordinator Mohammad Rashid Hussain that “a ship is safe at the harbour but it is not made for the harbour,” as very motivating.
“This inspired me to work hard,” she said.
Another successful candidate, Sima Khatoon has done her Computer Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She has been selected for Panchayati Raj Officer.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, she said that that “any Muslim girl can achieve success.”
She is all praise for the facilities and guidance that was provided to her at the Centre. “Allah has listened to my prayers for a platform to work for social welfare,” she said.
More works needed Afzal Hussain of Bihar Rabita Committee, which works for the minority community, told TwoCirlces.net that the success at Haj Bhawan is “commendable and its success needs to be emulated.” He said that the six centres supposed to impart coaching to minority students for job examinations at Patna, Darbhanga, Motihari, Kishanganj and Bhagalpur should also be developed along the lines of Haj Bhawan.
Social activist Nashoor Ajmal said that while the success at Haj Bhawan is welcome, “we should seriously think about the abysmal representation of Muslim community in government jobs while their population constitutes almost 17 per cent in Bihar.”
Experts and successful candidates are of the opinion that more efforts are needed and such initiatives should start at the Masjid committee level in the state.
Ajmal added the government of Bihar should work for the educational upliftment of the Muslim community by conducting special drives.
Sami Ahmad is a journalist based in Patna, Bihar.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / July 02nd, 2021
Volunteers distributing food | Photo Credit: special arrangement
Mohd. Abdul Yousuf and his team of volunteers networked across the nation to help tackle the second wave of the pandemic
When Hyderabad-based Mohd. Abdul Yousuf, a fourth-year student of Symbiosis Law School in Hyderabad and his friends wanted to feed the needy hit by COVID-19, they could not afford to hire a chef at ₹1,200 per day to prepare a meal with 25 kilograms of rice. Undeterred, the boys watched cookery channels to learn to prepare it themselves. Now, the team of volunteers of Helping Humans Hyderabad founded by Abdul, packs 400 dinner boxes and distributes them at Tadbun, Charminar, Government Maternity Hospital in Afzal Gunj, Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad Railway Station at Nampally, Public Gardens, MNJ̥ Cancer Hospital and Niloufer Hospital. “We make kaju, lemon and jeera rice and even made chicken biriyani sponsored by a friend,” says Abdul.
Mohd. Abdul Yousuf | Photo Credit: special arrangement
Helping Humans Hyderabad is among several voluntary organisations helmed by youngsters to verify leads, identify and share information on hospital resources and medical supplies to help tackle the second wave of the pandemic. However, Abdul’s organisation reached out beyond Hyderabad to Bengaluru, Gujarat, Delhi, Patna and Kerala as he networked from his contacts across India.
It started when Abdul posted a friend’s plasma request on his Instagram account. Buoyed by the response and backed by his associates: Lamya Hussaini, Molshree Totla and Ismail Zabiullah, he launched Helping Humans on April 16, his birthday, to amplify appeals for help. “We launched the page at 9 pm and at 1.30 am, we got a request for an oxygen cylinder,” he recalls.
Abdul and four core members of Helping Humans pooled ₹20,000 from their pockets to steer the network. With friends across India, he created a network of individuals to provide info from their cities; volunteers then verified the leads and updated the information on a Google spreadsheet. ‘If you are sitting idle at home, give your time to us,’ was their message on social media, inviting volunteers to be part of the initiative which had more than 200 members from across India. The office of Kavitha Kalvakuntla responded to their tweets for hospital resources; which not only helped in closing the requests, but also airlifting a passenger from Bihar to Hyderabad.
“Oxygen shortage was a major one during those dreadful two months,” shares Abdul, adding that his phone has not stopped ringing since April. Most of the 400 to 500 calls used to be for oxygen cylinders. The team purchased these cylinders for ₹60,000 from their own pockets. “Now the calls for cylinders have reduced to 50; and enquiries now are for oxygen concentrators.”
Abdul hopes to find more sponsors for their free food distribution programme. “We are glad we were able to make at least a small difference,” he concludes.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society – Relief Work / by Neerja Murthy / Hyderabad – June 18th, 2021
Known as the Oxygen Man of Hyderabad, Mohammed Sujathullah has been waging a war against hunger for more than four years. People started calling him Oxygen Man following him providing free oxygen cylinders to more than 1000 persons suffering from coronavirus.
Mohammed Sujathullah has been arranging free breakfast for 1000 people for the last four and a half years without missing a single day, in three government hospitals–King Koti Maternity Hospital, Sultan Bazaar, Niloufer Hospital, Red Hills, and NIMS, Punjagutta. He has also been providing dinner to homeless people on the roadsides for the past year.
Mohammed Sujathullah spoke to siasat.com about his journey to help people. He also spoke about what motivated and inspired him. He also shared his future plans in the fight against hunger.
Journey
Though he studied up to fifth grade, he could learn only the use of English alphabets. “I don’t know whether it was a favor from the school to promote me from one class to another. I crawled up to the fifth standard but hardly learned anything,” he remembered.
Then came the turnaround. But he doesn’t know-how. He suddenly began focusing on studies and worked vigorously to get into B. Pharmacy in Sultan Uloom College. In the third year of the course in 2015, he realized that he has to clear an Organic Chemistry backlog which he was a tough subject for him.
He could somehow clear that subject in one of the re-examinations he wrote. Sujathullah had vowed that if he clears the examination he would feed 10 persons. Following the results remembered his vow and bought 10 food packets from his meager savings and gave them away.
“In 24 years of my life, I had never felt as happy as I did when I fed hungry persons,” Sujathullah said after his experience in charity. He went to distribute food at a railway station and found himself in a situation where he had only 4 packets and there were 15-20 hungry people looking at me expectantly.
“That’s when I realized what hunger is. I realized how privileged I was to have been born into a family where all my wishes were fulfilled by my parents,” Sujathullah added. He said that this was when he decided to start distributing food on a daily basis. That was the beginning of his journey.
Since he lived in a joint family, he told everyone what he was planning to do. His family members decided to pledge a part of their monthly earnings to feed the hungry. In 2015-16 he distributed food four times a week with the help of his friends. We started doing a supper distribution program beginning with 50 food packs and slowly reached up to 200.
During his years in Pharm. D, he wasn’t able to take time out for social service. Later he came up with the idea of organizing breakfasts. “I could benefit more people with a smaller budget,” he said.
He said that he started distributing food packets at a government hospital and later added more distribution points.
Until now he has completed 1700 days. Also, now he has been organizing breakfasts for people at three government hospitals without missing a single day.
Encouraged by the support and success of his work, Sujathullah founded an NGO, Humanity First Foundation. He is now working on various other issues.
He said that he manages the funds with the help of crown funding with a 100% donation system i.e., his NGO. At the same time, he doesn’t take any money for himself.
“Everyone has something special within himself or herself. They should recognize and use it. Pay attention to the life after death, and become a good human,” Sujathullah advises.
Future plans
“Currently we are organizing water camps at bus stops. Since the beginning of the pandemic we have arranged groceries and lunch for the migrant workers,” he informed.
Since the beginning of the pandemic last year his organization has bought 400 oxygen cylinders and 30 concentrators to benefit the people.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Hyderabad News / by Usama Hazari / June 21st, 2021
Like many others, Iqbal too is going through hard times amid the pandemic-imposed lockdown.
In 2020, Abdullah Naan Mahal used to serve Nahari Sherwa too, but had to stop because of Covid-19 and consecutive lockdown.
Hyderabad :
We’ve heard of people donating money, distributing essentials and cooking for the needy during this pandemic. But here’s a breadman in Tolichowki who is helping the needy with his out-of-the-box initiative.
Mohammed Iqbal, who runs Abdullah Naan Mahal, does not want anyone to go hungry. So, he came up with Neki ki Roti (Bread of Goodness). Every morning, he places a basket outside his eatery for people to buy naan rotis and put them in it. “Anyone, rich or poor, can pick up the rotis from this basket. No one should go hungry,” he says.
Iqbal himself places at least 20 rotis a day in the basket. “By doing this, we are not helping people but God. It is God who is making us do this,” he believes. “Even those, who are not my regular customers, are now buying Neki ki Rotis to help the poor.”
Like many others, Iqbal too is going through hard times amid the pandemic-imposed lockdown. “As soon as I get back to being financially stable, I will start making Nahari Sherwa. The poor can have the rotis with it,” he says, adding that, “Nobody likes dry bread. Not even me. But what can we do in these difficult times?”
In 2020, Abdullah Naan Mahal used to serve Nahari Sherwa too, but had to stop because of Covid-19 and consecutive lockdown. However, Iqbal is hopeful that this difficult phase passes and the world becomes a better place again. He wants to continue his initiative for as long as he can. “People ride down to my shop to take these free rotis. We never question them because we do not know what they are going through,” he says.
That’s very thoughtful of him. Long live Neki ki Roti.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Express News Service / June 12th, 2021
Relief organizations of Hyderabad, run by Muslims, have come to the rescue of the state and offered help to fight the shortage of Oxygen.
A TCN Ground Report features some of them.
Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in Hyderabad in the southern Indian state of Telangana and rise in deaths due to the virus, the severe shortage of oxygen, ventilators and beds in both the government and private-run hospitals exposed the shortfalls of the healthcare system of the state.
Reports said that many patients were turned away from the hospitals due to a shortage of beds and died in their homes. Those admitted to the hospitals died due to lack of oxygen supply and delay in oxygen tankers reaching them. This lead to hundreds of deaths in Hyderabad alone.
Reports also said that hospitals were overcharging Covid-19 patients. These factors contributed to many people choosing to opt for home treatment.
It was then that the relief organizations of the state, run by Muslims, came to the rescue and offered help to fight the shortage of Oxygen.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Shiba Minai, an activist said, “I make at least 50 to 60 calls to get a bed for a patient”.
Shiba helps people by connecting them with groups, hospitals and organizations that have been helping patients with beds and oxygen facilities.
Shiba has been doing relief work since the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic by providing food for the homeless, migrants, poor people in the slums. She has also helped with the funeral services of the victims.
She said that a lot of people reach out to her during crisis time. To help these desperate families, she would seek financial help from friends and family members.
“I get calls from people who are unable to find a bed or oxygen if they are already in the hospital or are under home treatment. Then, I call up hospitals and once I get the right hospital, I then connect the patient or the attendant to that hospital,” she said.
Shiba said the work she does is exhausting. “Making several calls to hospitals that want to know how much can the patient be able to pay and meanwhile handling calls from attendants of patients is taxing,”.
Talking about an incident wherein a 45-year-old woman whose saturation levels dipped low and her family could not find a hospital with a bed, Shiba said that she tried her best but “the hospitals refused to admit her after coming to know that her oxygen levels were quite low and she had fewer chances of survival.”
The family of the patient roamed to 6 hospitals, who earlier had assured of the availability of bed refused to admit her once they saw the saturation levels. The woman was taken home where she later succumbed.
“I tried to help this lady from 9 p.m. till the wee hours of the morning when it was time for Suhoor (early morning meal during the Muslim month of Ramadan). Sadly, she could not be saved,” Shiba said in a sad tone.
Although Shiba has helped sixty persons with beds with oxygen facilities, what makes her sad is that the “number of patients who I could not help is higher than the ones I helped.”
Shiba is not alone in doing Covid-19 relief work. Like her, several organizations have helped Hyderabad overcome the Covid-19 crisis from the last year. This year too they have come forward to battle the oxygen shortage in the state.
‘Oxygen on Wheels’
Mohammed Asif Hussain Sohail, the chairperson of Sakina Foundation, who is popularly known as the ‘Hyderabad Hunger Warrior’ for feeding the hungry for more than 10 years, has been receiving close to 200 calls every day from patients who are being treated at home. He also gets calls from hospitals especially Osmania and Gandhi General Hospitals requesting him for oxygen facilities.
“The price of oxygen cylinders is quite high at Rs 30,000 and the cost of refilling has gone up to Rs 2500 which a common man cannot afford,” Sohail said.
Md Asif Hussain Sohail of Sakina Foundation
Sohail said that as hospitals are running out of oxygen and due to black marketing, he has to verify if the patient needs oxygen or not before helping.
“Sometimes, they don’t need oxygen and we have to counsel and advise them not to give in to their fear and explain to them that a needier person requires it more,” he explained.
Sohail claims that he has “spent more than Rs 10 lakhs from his pocket to buy cylinders and send them to the homes of the needy.”
“Every day, in Hyderabad itself, my Foundation has provided more than 200 free cylinders. We have reached out to at least 2000 people so far,” he said.
Oxygen on Wheels is another initiative of the Sakina Foundation. As part of this initiative, oxygen cylinders are provided to patients who are on their way to the city for treatment from their towns and villages.
“Many people were dying on the way to Hyderabad. Not being able to get proper treatment in their villages they would travel to advanced hospitals in the city. The patients would only be saved if they arrived on time and if the hospital had oxygen,” he said.
“I wanted to save lives so I came up with this idea to provide emergency oxygen cylinders on the highway,” Sohail said.
As soon as they receive an SOS call, his volunteers drive to the spot where the patient is and help him/her with the oxygen.
Sohail said that they have driven up to 200 kilometers to provide oxygen to a patient on the highway.
“Patients were coming not just from the districts of Telangana state but also from Bhopal, Maharashtra, Karnataka. We met them all on the highway and immediately helped them with the oxygen if their saturation levels were low,” Sohail said, adding, “Nearly 150 persons were helped on the highway.”
Sohail said that “love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.” “Without it, humanity cannot survive,” he added.
700 people given oxygen aid by Helping Hand Foundation
With the oxygen crisis in the state, volunteers of the relief organization Helping Hand Foundation (HHF), headed by Mujtaba Aksari, have been at the forefront.
The group distributed a flyer with their contact numbers for people to seek help in cases of Covid-19 emergency. The group also provide help with giving decent funeral services to Covid-19 victims deaths irrespective of religion.
Mohammed Fareedullah, who heads the project told TwoCircles.net, “When we receive a call for help, our doctors consult them online and based on the doctor’s recommendation, if the patient needs oxygen, we advise the attendant to come to our godown and take the oxygen cylinder without paying any advance or rent.
A patient receiving oxygen help from HHF | Photo by HHF
Fareedullah said that the families of the patients just have “to pay the refilling charges.”
“The plant where we get the cylinders refilled have begun to charge double of what they used to charge earlier. But we charge the people a nominal amount,” he said.
“The cylinders provided by HHF are usually for home patients but if the patient develops complications and their saturation level drops despite the oxygen therapy then we help them reach the hospital where again our counsellors in the hospital help them with other needs. When the patient recovers and is discharged we ferry them home in HHF ambulances. If they do not recover the volunteers help the family with the last rites too,” explained Fareedullah.
Helping Hands Foundation owns about 15 ambulances which are free for all patients. The group has 100 cylinders and a luggage trolley to transport the cylinders to the houses of people who cannot come to their go down.
To date, HHF claims to have helped more than 700 people covering the entire old city and many other localities.
Humanity First Foundation: from feeding hungry to procuring Oxygen
Mohammed Shujatullah,founder of relief organization Humanity First Foundation has been feeding patients and their attendants at three government hospitals for the last 5 years.
One day when Shujatallah received a call requesting help with oxygen, he decided to buy cylinders and give them for free to patients and then refill the empty ones and help whoever needed them. “Prices had doubled for both the oxygen cylinders and for refilling but through donations to Humanity First, I continued helping people every day with the 110 cylinders we have,” he said.
Md Shujatullah of Humanity First Foundation checking oxygen cylinders | Photo by HFF
His organization has an ambulance, which carries the oxygen cylinders to hospitals and homes of patients.
In the month of Ramadan, Shujatallah said that his foundation received good donations and he managed to help as many people as was possible for him.
Patients at the gate of a hospital supported by SDIF | Picture: SDIF
‘Our motive to save lives keeps us going’
Another local initiative known as Social Data Initiative Forum (SDIF)founded by Azam Khan and Khalid Saifullah started oxygen services during the first wave of the pandemic with their stock of 15 cylinders.
During the second wave, as the oxygen crisis has only gone worse, the group has been adding to their stockpile of oxygen cylinders.
The founders said that they had to pay more than the normal price for both purchasing and refilling the cylinders.
“Our services are not restricted to just providing oxygen cylinders. We also set up an oxygen bank at Government notified Covid-19 hospitals where usually the poorest of the poor come to access health care. People from the rural parts come to Hyderabad with hopes of quality treatment and they face a lot of hurdles waiting to get admitted after already having travelled a long distance,” Azam Khan said.
“The waiting period at the hospital and the travel time further delays the process of the treatment, which is why we opted to help in the government hospitals,” he clarified.
In Gandhi Hospital alone, which is the largest Covid-19 hospital of Hyderabad, Azam Khan said they have “20 oxygen cylinders in circulation which are serving at least 400 patients per day.”
“This supply of oxygen is crucial to their recovery,” Khalid added.
Apart from the 20 cylinders, they have 100 more cylinders at the other two government-run Covid-19 hospitals of Hyderabad.
They said they have helped more than 100 people so far.
Azam Khan narrated an experience that made them realise the significance of their work.
The King Kothi Government hospital had requested SDIF to set up an oxygen bank.
“I felt we had to start the work immediately and even though it was Sunday, our team went to the hospital. As soon as we reached the hospital, we saw four dead bodies being carried away. We were told the hospital had run out of oxygen causing the death of these four persons. We immediately set up our oxygen cylinders. Later the doctors informed us that our timely help had saved three persons who were critical and would not have survived had we not reached on time. This experience both saddened us and also made us feel happy that we could at least save the lives of other three persons,” he said.
“Our motive to save lives keeps us going,” the duo said.
The SDIF is helped by two other charity organizations from Hyderabad namely Safa Baitul Maal and Access Foundation, who work in close collaboration with them.
Pre and post-Covid care given by Al Hamd Foundation
Al Hamd Foundation, a charitable trust that helps widows, students and the poor, took up Covid-19 relief operations during the last year’s lockdown.
Amid the ongoing second wave, the foundation is continuing with online consultations of patients with doctors.
When patients contact them online, they are connected to doctors who advise home treatment keeping in view the severe crunch in the hospitals and also the fact that many cases can be treated at home with proper medications and care.
Al Hamd Foundation Covid relief services
The foundation has provided home treatment to fifty-two patients, who had reported low oxygen levels.
The founder of Al Hamd Abdul Azeem Mohammed told TwoCircles.net that the treatment cost they incurred for each patient would have run up to Rs. 7 to 8 lakhs had they been treated in a hospital.
“The team of AL Hamd ensures that the patient does not panic and develops a strong will to fight the disease and survive. The team also helps with the oxygen cylinders, the medicines and regular monitoring by the doctor who visits the patient. At times when the patients are poor and the team notices that they need provisions apart from the medical assistance, Al Hamd provides the family members with rations as well,” Azeem said.
Al Hamd has given 300 oxygen cylinders and 6 oxygen concentrators to other organizations that are helping people affected with Covid-19.
They have four oxygen hubs and seven ambulances in Hyderabad-Secunderabad and a fifth one is coming up soon.
“We have ordered 25 oxygen concentrators from the UK which is likely to arrive by in the last week of May. Each oxygen concentrator of 5-6 litres costs around Rs 46,000. We have also ordered 5 C PAP machines that cure respiratory disorders. And since we are not a hospital, we intend to donate these C PAP machines to the hospitals where there are facilities to treat patient with respiratory disorders that are linked to Covid” explained Azeem.
“We also give post-Covid care by giving immunity-boosting drugs and foodstuff,” he added.
Al Hamd is run with funds from family and close friends.
50-bed oxygen therapy centre set up by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Well-known socio-religious organization Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) Telangana has also set up a 50-bed oxygen therapy centre in Wadi-e-Huda near Shaheen Nagar, Hyderabad. JIH’s sister concern Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) supports recycling the cylinders, rifling them, coordinating with other organisations for availability.
Post Script
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Faiyaz Shaikh, who is in his mid 40s, lost his job in August last year, but that did not stop him from helping the poor families in Ambujwadi slum locality at Malwani in suburban Malad.
Representational Image. (Photo | ANI)
Mumbai :
Crisis brings out the best in people and a man from Mumbai has proved it as he has set up a community kitchen from his own savings for the poor migrant workers suffering due to the COVID-19-induced restrictions.
Faiyaz Shaikh, who is in his mid 40s, lost his job in August last year, but that did not stop him from helping the poor families in Ambujwadi slum locality at Malwani in suburban Malad.
Now, his community kitchen is providing food to around 500 people every day, Shaikh told PTI.
He is also providing them ration and medicines since last year, he said.
Over one lakh migrant workers live in the Ambujwadi locality and their livelihood is dependent on daily wages.
Shaikh said during the lockdown last year, he got help from some NGOs for ration and medicines, but this time, he had to manage things on his own.
“After I lost my job, I got around Rs 10 lakh from my company. I am utilising that money to offer food to the migrants through the community kitchen and also providing them medicines,” he said.
Shaikh said he came up with the idea of a community kitchen after seeing the sufferings of slum dwellers in Malwani.
“The kitchen must continue to feed the children and the needy,” he said.
He said the community kitchen has also helped in providing employment to locals and at the same time, hygiene is also maintained.
Shaikh said his wife has also been running an English medium school in the area since the last 11 years where around 350 students are enrolled.
“The fees of students was waived off for three months last year, and now for the entire year,” he said.
The locality where the school is situated comprises daily wagers and they don’t give priority to the education of their children, he said.
“If the fee waiver was not allowed, there would have been dropouts from school, endangering the future of these children,” he said.
When Cyclone Tauktae brushed past the Mumbai coast last week, strong winds blew away roofs of several houses in the slum colony.
At that time, the Shaikhs provided shelter to these families in the school and made sure they were well-fed.
Asked how he is managing his own livelihood, Shaikh said, “For the last 11 years, I have two families- my own and this slum colony. I can’t differentiate between the two. I will continue to look after both till I can manage.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Mumbai / by PTI / May 25th, 2021
People wait outside an oxygen production unit at Peenya Industrial Area in Bengaluru, after many hospitals ran out of oxygen and beds with ventilators. File photo for representation. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar
Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute 1992 batch doctors liaise with volunteer groups to offer services
Doctors living across the world — all alumni of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) from the 1992 batch — have now banded together with a coalition of volunteer groups to offer end-to-end COVID-19 management for patients in Karnataka, particularly in Bengaluru.
While the Karnataka COVID-19 Volunteers Team (KCVT), with over 500 members, has set up a helpline (080-47166115) which counsels patients, refers them to doctors for tele-consultation, helps in home management and to find hospital beds, Mercy Mission is operating two COVID-19 care centres and has a tie-up with the HBS Hospital in Shivajinagar for critical care. While the helpline and tele-consultation with doctors is available for patients across the State, other on ground facilities are in the city.
“There are over 50 doctors, most of them from BMCRI 1992 batch, and many living in the U.S. and the U.K., who are offering free tele-consultation for COVID-19 patients. I have been doing this for a week now. Most cases are manageable at home. What patients need is guidance and some confidence,” said Umesh Nareppa, a senior cardiac surgeon at Vikram Hospital in the city, and an BMCRI 1992 batch alumnus.
Fund raising
The doctors abroad have also raised funds to the tune of around ₹2 crore and sent 250 oxygen concentrators to the city for patients who need them during home isolation.
Another BMCRI alumnus, H.V. Vasu, who is coordinating the KCVT, said the helpline also has over 100 trained counsellors and will follow patients through the entire course of the infection, advising them with course of treatment, diet, tele-consultation with doctors and try to organise oxygen, hospital beds, if need be. “We have helped book more than 200 beds in the last few days, all through diligent follow-up with the civic body,” he said.
Meanwhile, the KCVT and BMC-92 have partnered with Mercy Mission, another network of NGOs is also running helplines organising oxygen, beds, food and even cremating COVID-19 patients, and for hospital infrastructure. “We have a tie-up with Al Ameen Hospital and HBS Hospital, both in Shivajinagar. While we refer mild to moderate patients to Al Ameen Hospital, we are partnering with HBS for critical care. Mercy Mission is also looking at partnering with CSI hospital, also in the same area, for which talks are in initial stages. Meanwhile, Mercy Mission has partnered with a hospital in Hassan,” said Ali Shariff, who is coordinating these efforts. Patients who need hospital care are being referred to these hospitals.
Mercy Mission is also looking to reactivate the over 40 on ground triaging centres it operated last year in the city’s slums, with focus on vaccination this time. “There is vaccine hesitancy in the slums and we need to send in motivators who have earlier worked in these slums to get people to take the jab. Vaccine coverage is inequitable and low in these pockets. Once we are assured of vaccine supply, we will begin these centres, where we will also take up triaging for COVID-19 cases,” said Mr. Shariff.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj / Bengaluru – May 16th, 2021
Citizens stand in a queue as they wait to receive a dose of COVID-19 vaccine, at ESIS Hospital in Navi Mumbai, on May 13, 2021. | Photo Credit: PTI
‘We have been providing free services with the aim of keeping humanitarian spirit alive,’ they say
Pune district has been the worst-hit in not only the State but also the country during the first and second waves of COVID-19. The district currently has nearly 95,000 active cases and is reporting nearly 15,000 deaths since March last year.
As the virus continues to wreak havoc and instil fear, there have been several cases in which relatives have refused to perform funerals of their kin or even help take the body to the ambulance.
In such cases, city-based activist Anjum Inamdar and his outfit, Mulnivasi Muslim Manch, have been performing yeoman service to ensure that these ‘orphaned’ bodies receive a proper funeral. Since last year, the Manch has performed the last rites of more than 1,300 COVID-19 victims, cutting across castes and communities.
With material support from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which has supported the group by supplying Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits, Mr. Inamdar and his 18-member team have transcended communal barriers with their exemplary service.
“As the deaths started mounting in Pune in late March-early April, our outfit was one of the first to respond to the then PMC Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad’s call to NGOs to come forward and aid authorities in relief work… In many cases, funerals could not be performed as entire families had tested positive. It is in such cases that our outfit helped perform the last rites as per the tradition of a particular caste or community…We have even helped in the funeral of non-Covid victims,” Mr. Inamdar said.
Mulnivasi Muslim Manch founder Anjum Inamdar (centre, in PPE kit) helping with last rites of a Christian person in Pune.
Manch acitivists have performed the last rites of Hindus – be they Brahmins, Lingayats, Telugus – as well as Sikhs, Christians and members of other communities as per their respective customs, much to the satisfaction of the relatives of the deceased.
“Our activists have fanned out across the State, working in Lonavla, Shirur, Jejuri, Lonand, as well as Satara, Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Raigad and other districts in the Marathwada region. We have also helped with the final rites of constables, health workers, doctors, journalists and notables like Maharashtra hockey player William D’Souza,” Mr. Inamdar said.
Their volunteers also facilitate online training of workers from different social outfits engaged in relief works across the State.
“We have been providing free services with the aim of keeping the humanitarian spirit alive and ensuring dignity even in death,” says Mr. Inamdar.
Helping hand
The Sikh community has time and again proved itself when it comes to opening up their hearts and purses for relief work. The Supreme Council Navi Mumbai Gurudwaras (SCNMG) is an umbrella organisation governing nine gurdwaras. Many of these gurdwaras are providing free rations and cooking gas to the needy, by collaborating with different trusts as well as using donations from individuals.
“We provide cooking gas and rations for a week or two from our gurdwaras in Panvel, Kharghar, CBD-Belapur, Nerul, and Airoli. Whoever needs rations can go there and they get what they need,” said Mehar Singh Randhawa, general secretary of the SCNMG. Last year too, these gurdwaras had ensured delivery of rations to the needy.
“This is public money and going back to the public. Our job is to deliver to the needy without discrimination,” he said. The SCNMG also provides cooking gas cylinder to the Covid-affected.
“Come with the Covid report and Aadhaar card. While a small cylinder is for free, we take a deposit for a big cylinder. The money is refunded when the cylinder is returned,” he said. When asked how many people have benefited, Mr. Randhawa modestly said the job was not for the purpose of keeping count and no record has been maintained.
Relief in kind
Not all relief work is about offering food, though. Anjumane Shiateali, an organisation that manages matters of the Dawoodi Bohra community in Mumbai, is providing service of a different kind. It has recently set up a Covid war room in Mumbai’s Bhendi Bazar area as part of its Project Rise initiative.
Taizun Bearingwala, a volunteer/coordinator at the war room, said they offer medical counselling, consoling and guide people to appropriate medical service. “We get calls from different parts of the country. We also have over 60 doctors who offer consultations,” he said. The war room has designed a medical form which is filled after talking to the caller.
The Anjumane Shiateali has been serving food to migrants workers and has undertaken other relief efforts under Project Rise initiative since the last 12 months.
Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Sheikh said that the Project Rise work is commendable. “The callers get advise on whether they need oxygen or ICU bed or home quarantine,” he said, adding that earlier the calls were from patients, but now the number of those seeking guidance on vaccination has seen an increase.
Not just in Mumbai, Project Rise has a presence in other cities of Maharashtra and the country.
They have converted a community school in Indore into a Covid care centre providing hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and day care. So far, over 500 patients have received treatment.
With the help of local authorities and agencies, Project Rise volunteers are supplying extra beds, medicine, oxygen supply in all six Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) and one Covid care centre in economically backward areas of Karjat. They are also providing protective gear such as masks, gloves, PPE kits and sanitisers for all medical staff and frontline workers. This is for a combined population of over 2.5 lakh people.
Their volunteers in Coimbatore and Chennai have been serving cooked meals to patients’ families, slum dwellers, at orphanage and old age homes since the last 51 weeks.
Financial and medical support is also being provided in Nagpur and Nashik in Maharashtra and small towns like Taloda and Mahuva in Gujarat, and Thandla in Madhya Pradesh. Villages in Mokhada, Maharashtra, are being supplied with daily water tankers, covering a population of over 1,650 people
“As part of the initiative, Project Rise volunteers across different parts of the country are mobilising a range of facilities from healthcare and oxygen cylinders to serving food, water and dry rations to vulnerable sections of society,” said Ammar Tyebkhan, member, Project Rise.
Space for vaccination
St Michael’s Church at Mahim, on the other hand, offered much needed space for vaccination. “There is palpable panic among people since the second wave struck. We can help people, but there is a need to instil confidence. This confidence will come only through vaccination,” said Father Lancy Pinto.
“As we realised the need for vaccination, we offered three options to our ward officer along with the local corporator. We offered the church’s premises till November this year to set up vaccination centre. It has a capacity to vaccinate 1,200 people a day,” he added.
Father Pinto said the church offered space knowing that vaccination would be a long process and would not get over in one or two months. “Therefore, we chose a spot which will not disrupt the activities of the church and the school,” he said.
Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak Trust, on the other hand, extended monetary help to the State government to fight the pandemic and also to provide aid.
“We have donated ₹5 crore to the Chief Minister’s Covid relief fund. In addition, we also donated ₹5 crore towards the Shiv bhojan scheme of the State government where free meals are given to the needy,” said Aadesh Bandekar, president of the trust.
He said further relief measures would be be announced after a meeting of office-bearers of the trust.
Recognising another gap, Lalbaugcha Raja, one of the most popular public Ganesh mandals in Mumbai, has been running its dialysis centre throughout the Covid period.
Balasaheb Kamble, president, Lalbaugcha Raja, said, “We ensured that the centre continues to run throughout the pandemic. While medical services are busy and loaded with work treating COVID patients, those requiring dialysis can come here.”
It has also held blood donation camps where over 15,000 bottles of blood were collected. “We also gave a call for plasma donation, through which we helped around 245 patients,” he said.
(With inputs from Shoumojit Banerjee, Alok Deshpande and Lalatendu Mishra)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Other States / by Mumbai Bureau / Mumbai – May 13th, 2021
Since Ramzan began, this team of volunteers has been heading out every morning at 3am to feed 500 others before they sit down for their own sehri.
Irfan Ahamad Z and Saddam Baig
Bengaluru :
While many start to hit the sack at 11.30pm is when Saddam Baig jumps into action. Since Ramadan began, the advocate has been volunteering to distribute food for sehri (a meal consumed early in the morning before Muslims begin fasting during the holy month) to over 500 people in Padarayanapura.
A resident of the area himself, Baig says, “There are many slums around and the daily wage workers are struggling to get food these days. Baig took part in this initiative last year too, but then, there were more groups catering to different areas of the city such as Koramangala and RT Nagar as well.
Not wanting to give up the good deed this year, the 28-year-old decided to take it up again. The initiative has been started by Aayina Trust, a charitable organisation, but includes volunteers both from the trust and outside. Every day, the team has been packing food for those in need, with funds coming from their own pockets and through donations.
“We’ve had many people show their goodwill at this time. For example, our cooking team has three people, wherein the main chef takes only Rs 1,000 per day to prepare 100kg of rice, one type of chakna and one gravy,” says Baig, who is a trustee of Aayina Trust. Once the food is prepared by 11.30pm, the team gets to work with packing it and then heads out to distribute the meals at 3am, without catching a wink of sleep in between.
“I don’t sleep before because I know there are people depending on us. One day, we were 10-15 minutes late but when we reached, some of the families were waiting and they had tears in their eyes. They thought they wouldn’t be able to get a meal that day,” recalls Baig, adding that the team only sits down for their own sehri after the distribution to others in need is done. “I sleep less these days but it’s peaceful slumber. And helping others gives me energy to deal with the fatigue,” he adds.
Irfan Ahamad Z, who is the chairman of the trust, says they don’t want to keep the initiative limited to just Ramzan. “If the lockdown continues, we want to help during that time as well,” he says.
Baig adds, “So far, we haven’t faced any trouble despite the restrictions in place. Even the police personnel in our area are aware of our work and don’t mind us stepping out for it. We divide ourselves into teams of two and make sure not to disturb anyone.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Simran Ahuja , Express News Service / May 08th, 2021
