Men who went beyond call of duty during COVID-19 pandemic

Businessman and film producer Manish Mundra flew to Nigeria in the first week of March. Although he saw extra precautions being taken at airports in Europe, he never saw the COVID-19 infection “getting this serious”. When India went into a lockdown and flights were stopped, Manish Mundra was stranded in Nigeria with rest of his family in Bengaluru. Even as other stranded Indians panicked and wanted to get back home, Manish launched an initiative to help hospitals while sitting more than 7500 kms away from home.

By March 25 his first consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and ventilators were donated to government hospitals. “Having read about what was happening in some European countries and places like Italy, I knew Indian health care system would take some time to gear up to this challenge. We quickly spoke to some manufacturers, doctors and experts to arrange for necessary items”, says Manish.

His initiative has received widespread support and appreciation on Twitter. While few people came forward to manage the logistics pro bono, others chipped in with manufacturer details and requirement at various hospitals in the country.

At the last count, Manish Mundra had donated more than 45,000 PPE kits to hospitals spread over 60 locations in the country along with 30 ventilators and 15 oxygen concentrators. He has also donated 50 ICU beds and 2,250 normal beds for hospitals. He is also sponsoring more than 8000 meals every day in partnership with Swiggy and has distributed dry ration worth around Rs 80 Lakhs already.

The Bollywood producer who has given cinematic gems like Masaan and Newton says the appreciation and love he got from the medical fraternity and on social media is overwhelming,“I have never asked for thank you letters but hospitals sent it. There is so much love I have got on social media it is very satisfying. And people have helped us a lot, just last week we ordered for 13,500 kg of ration to be distributed in Mumbai but due to bank holiday we couldn’t pay the vendor, he still delivered it and asked us to pay later despite the amount being huge”.

Even as world over companies and individuals are trying to save and preserve cash, Manish says his initiative wont stop till the end of this pandemic. In his early years, Manish’s family had to go through a lot of financial difficulties and as a teenager he sold soft drinks on the streets of Deoghar in Jharkhand (then Bihar).

Today he heads the Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited in Nigeria. “I have been blessed by god, I see this as once in a lifetime opportunity to serve the society. I don’t want to speak about how much we have spent but if there is a day when we don’t do something then I feel something is wrong”, says Manish.

As the country has increased its domestic production of PPE kits, Manish has now shifted his focus on delivering ration kits and cooked food, distributing sanitary napkins and bed sheets. He hopes that the guest workers come back to work in our urban areas after all hardship and humiliation that they have gone through in the last few weeks.

Paratroopers fighting the unseen enemy in Silicon Valley

A paratrooper who wants to identify himself as Major Bravo was back from the Kashmir Valley to meet his family in Bengaluru when the lock down was imposed. His return plan was thrown out of gear. The brave heart who is used to counter-terror operations in the Kashmir valley decided to fight the unseen enemy spreading in the silicon valley of the country. He volunteered to help the state government in every way possible.

With an experience of serving in one of the most difficult regions in the country for over a year, the Dept of Information and Public Relations did not waste any time in utilizing the experience by making him part of the Corona warriors task force.

Along with task force chief Mallavika Avinash and coordinator Major Pradeep Shoury Arya he managed to onboard and handle a team of 12,000 volunteers. “Since the government was working with a skeletal staff of 10 – 15 per cent during the lockdown, there was burden on the uniformed forces, so we had to help them in various aspects like distribution, logistics etc. My experience in the army came in handy in augmenting the process and rostering volunteers” says Major Bravo.

Major Bravo and his team were instrumental in ensuring the migrants who were heading back home in buses and trains, have a hassle free boarding and ensured they had enough food and water. The paratrooper who is always fighting terrorists in hostile terrains says the whole experience over the last two months has been very satisfying.

“On two occasions, there were guest workers who were pregnant and their water broke. The volunteer team worked in-sync with medical team and ensured they were rushed to a medical facility. The photos of these cute babies is all over the WhatsApp groups, it is satisfying to see that. We are glad we could ensure food and ration packets reached the last needy person during this period”, says Major Bravo.

Similarly, Major Pradeep Shoury Arya had come to Bengaluru for a few days to take care of his father who was unwell, but just when he was preparing to leave the lockdown was imposed. The IRS officer who is presently posted as Additional Commissioner of Income Tax in Mumbai is also part of India Army’s Territorial Army (Parachute Regiment). When the pandemic hit the country and grounded Major Arya in Bengaluru, the Shaurya Chakra awardee decided to use his bureaucratic and army experience to help the government machinery grappling with COVID-19. He was assigned the task of managing the volunteers team in Bengaluru.

“We had around 4,500 volunteers in Bengaluru and we had 18-20 verticals, from the most important ones like food distribution and logistics to even animal feed and rescue. It was planned to the last detail. We also arranged drones for police to enforce lockdown efficiently and took care of food needs of even the African nationals living in the city”, says Major Arya.

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The task force which has received widespread appreciation had people from all walks of life, from commercial pilots, chartered accountants to start up founders and activists. Major Arya says the experience in the army of managing small teams, leaving ego aside, and following the procedure came in handy while managing the team.

His links in the bureaucracy really helped in the initial days when there was lot of confusion with passes and permission. “Logistics team faced issues with passes, people who would go to our kitchen on Sarjapura road or our supplies were stopped at times, but the fact that I knew many officers helped and I could call the DCP or others and solve it immediately. When we needed an ambulance for the animals I reached out to a veterinary surgeon and he took care of it, so everyone did their bit to make things work”, says Major Arya.

The Major who has taken part in Counter insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir says one of the most satisfying experience was ensuring people from J&K getting onboard a special train to Udhampur despite having issues with tickets and tokens.

“Many had lost tokens, some didn’t have tickets, we spoke to the Divisional Railway manager and ensure they could go on the train. Having served in these areas, I know the difficulties that they face, their culture and way of life. Even after getting down in Udhampur they have to travel with great difficulty to their respective villages”, says Major Arya. After doing his bit for his hometown, the IRS officer now is planning a relief mission to Jammu and Kashmir in the coming days.