Bengaluru: Jain outfit offers to set up, run Covid Care Centre

BENGALURU: While the state government is grappling with rising Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru and a growing stigma against those infected, here is something to cheer about: communities are stepping up to bolster the government’s Covid containment efforts.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Jain community has come forward to establish and run a Covid Care Centre (CCC) where asymptomatic Jain patients can be housed and treated. The Jain International Trade Organisation (Bangalore), a network of influential businessmen and professionals from the Jain community, on Saturday submitted a representation to this effect to senior IAS officer Rajender Kumar Kataria, who has been deployed to identify and establish CCCs as Bengaluru begins to witness a surge in asymptomatic cases.
JITO said it has identified a hotel in Majestic area, City Centaur, and sought permission to convert it into a 200-bed CCC. “Communities chipping in to support is a welcome move. It reduces the burden on the government. We are working on a war footing to establish CCCs,” Kataria told TOI. “We will manage the entire facility financially,” the JITO stated in the representation.
JITO member Lalit Karbawala said: “Many members of the Jain community have tested positive for Covid. There is a need to have a care centre for the community. We held a meeting and decided to commence a CCC. We have tied up with Manipal Hospital, which has consented to give medical support to run the centre.” Experts from Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital will also be roped in.
In the representation, the JITO stated the facility will be a pure vegetarian one. “...Our religious month is approaching and there are food restrictions. We will be charging a person who is capable of paying a nominal cost.” Karbawala added: “We will also accommodate others, who are in dire need of treatment.”
Coming at a time when the government’s response to Covid-19 is getting scattered, such community-driven initiatives make a difference. “Such facilities reduce anxiety levels among community members as they feel at home during treatment. The hotels, which operated as institutional quarantines, can get converted into temporary CCCs and neutralise the financial losses triggered by the lockdown. This will also reduce pressure on the government healthcare system,” a senior government official said.
“It’s high time everyone joined hands with the government to contain the spread of Covid-19,” added Kataria.