Nagpur: A hero in more ways than one, Nagpur’s ‘soulpreneur’ Khushroo Poacha was one of 12 Covid warriors awarded on Friday by the national commission for minorities for exemplary public service during the pandemic.
The Covid warriors were felicitated by Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri. They included two posthumous awardees and the first woman to fly a Vande Bharat rescue mission flight. Poacha was the only one from Maharashtra to receive it.
The TOI Nagpur Heroes awardee said, “It feels good to be recognized at the national level. That we were able to make such an impact despite not having the external support big NGOs do, makes it all the more special.”
Now in his 20th year of social activism, railway employee Poacha’s ‘Seva kits’ and ‘Daan Veer’ initiative helped countless many to tide over the Covid-19 crisis. The 53-year-old and his network of volunteers continue to serve those in distress — including widows of farmers in Pandharkawda, Yavatmal, who died by suicide, and coolies at Nagpur railway station.
Poacha said compassion, integrity and inclusivity were the driving forces behind the consistent success of his endeavours, which had now taken the shape of a movement. “People know we don’t accept any money; we only accept in kind. This means we have no bank accounts or operational expenses either,” he said.
During the pandemic, stranded migrant workers called Poacha from across the country for help, and he was there for them. “I had no clue of their geography. All I did was share their WhatsApp location on my Facebook timeline, and somehow, all requests were taken care of.”
Poacha’s first-ever endeavour indianblooddonors.com (a nationwide repository for those seeking blood donors) was on the back burner for some time because of ‘Seva Kitchen’, but in the coming year he intends to leverage social media for a paradigm shift in blood donation. “As of today, when blood is required, patients go searching for donors. Now, donors should go searching for patients.”
His family is an inseparable part of everything he does. His wife Fermin and 7-year-old daughter Tunisha, who collected 2,500 sweaters for children in Melghat this year, are always closely involved with the initiatives.
Recognitions like the one earned on Friday (on the occasion of National Minorities Rights Day) serve as the fuel for their engine. “Twenty years back, the CEO of an organization had told me, ‘Mr Poacha, good work cannot be done without money’. Today, I can happily say I proved this gentleman wrong.”