Corona Sainiks deliver medicines beyond border in time

BENGALURU:  A cancer patient from Srirangam in Tamil Nadu was able to get his medicine from a remote village near Sagar taluk in Shivamogga district on time, thanks to the efforts of three engineer volunteers of Corona Sainik (Corona Army). Though located in different parts of Karnataka, the trio was able to carry out their task seamlessly with the help of the state government’s helpline team that coordinated their efforts to ensure that the medicine reached in time.

It all started recently, when a person from Srirangam tweeted tagging the helpline Karmika Sahayavani saying that his father-in-law has been suffering from colon cancer and has been taking medicines from one Dr Narayanamurthy of Narsipura in Shivamogga. The man also mentioned that he used to visit Narsipura every month to bring the medicine. But due to the lockdown, he said he was at a loss on how to get the medicine.  “We are afraid his (father-in-law) health condition may deteriorate without the medicine,” 
he said.

The helpline forwarded this message to the Corona Sainik group on WhatsApp, which immediately set in motion the humanitarian effort. Fathaheen Misbah, a techie with Infosys in Mysuru, who is an admin of the group, alerted Teju Kumar N, who works as Assistant Engineer with the Water Resources Department. He, in turn, contacted his friend Kantharaju, a resident of Sagar in Shivamogga and who works at TCS Chennai.

Kantharaju went to Narasipura and managed to trace Dr Narayanamurthy, but the latter was not able to prepare the medicine following the COVID outbreak. This was conveyed to the patient’s family who later informed the helpline that there was another doctor in the same place. Kantharaju located this doctor and arranged for a conference call from the spot with the family. After the family found that it was the same medicine and gave their nod, Kantharaju picked them up and couriered it. The medicines then reached the patient’s house in time.