THE TIMES OF INDIA, BANGALORE MONDAY, MAY 27, 2013 5TIMES CITY

Yamini Nair TNN

Bangalore: Many years ago, aperson’s death due to unavaila-bility of blood stirred the con-science of four engineering stu-dents. The quartet resolved toensure that no one died due toshortage of blood. Thus wasborn the Sankalp In-dia Foundation (SIF)on May 23, 2003.

Ten years on, thefoundation has nowexpanded the fron-tiers of its service.“When we started as a smallgroup, we used to go and tellblood banks to inform us whenthere was shortage of blood.Initially they didn’t take us seri-ously. Later when they got toknow how serious we were, we

started getting several re-quests,” says Rakesh Dhanya,secretary, SIF.

The organization now hasaround 25 volunteer-members,who are basically engineerswith software companies. TheSIF maintains a list of regulardonors who can be contacted

anytime. In 2006,they managed tolaunch a helplinefor people fromwithin Bangalorewhich was com-missioned as a

state-level helpline by 2008. “We have tied up with 60

blood banks across the state. Ev-ery morning, we take stock ofthe blood position in banks,”says Rakesh. When they get acall, SIF volunteers guide the

person to the nearest bloodbank. The helpline now re-ceives 30 to 40 requests daily.

SIF also organizes blood do-nation drives. “Over the past

five years, we have organizedmore than 300 drives acrossKarnataka, leading to a collec-tion of about 35,000 units ofblood. I talk to companies and

colleges and organize drives oncampuses,” says Lalith Parmar,a volunteer. “We have regulardonors for even the rare Bom-bay Blood Group,” says Rakesh,

adding they have sent blood toplaces such as Istanbul.

The life-saving mission isnow growing into a life-build-ing one as well. From carryingout relief work in disaster-hitareas to inculcating love for thenation in young minds throughinitiatives like Project Tiranga,the group is involved in nation-building at many levels. “Thechange that SIF brought in mewas simple — from a constantnag to a busy individual,” saysRajat Agarwal, a volunteer.

To ensure proper bloodtransfusion, medical tests andmedicines to children sufferingfrom thalassemia, SIF set up aThalassemia Day Care Centreat the Indira Gandhi Institute ofChild Health in November2011.“Children who suffer from

thalassemia have to undergoblood transfusion every 20 days.They come from various places,even outside the state. Manyparents are daily wage workersand at times don’t have moneyto even travel till here. We pro-vide them with help for thattoo,” says Kumari Ankita, incharge of the centre.

Using technology toconnectwith global donors and keep re-cord of donors and beneficiar-ies, the centre that started with60 kids now has around 170 chil-dren. “Working with SIF showsit is not the number of peoplebut their passion and commit-ment that makes the big differ-ence,” Lalith signs off rightly.

These engineers program lifelines tooSankalp India Foundation Organizes Blood Donation Drives | Set Up Thalassemia Centre in 2011

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Residents cannow apply for new water andsanitary connections at thesub-divisional offices of theBWSSB or through licensedplumbers.

Following an amendmentto BWSSB regulation 12 onSaturday, a resident can nowdirectly sub-mit his/herapplicationalong with acopy of thesanctioned plan of the build-ing, tax receipt or extract ofthe khata certificate at the ju-risdictional sub-divisionaloffice of the BWSSB. Afterinspection of the property bythe water inspector or engi-neer concerned, the assist-ant executive engineer will

issue a demand note to the applicant.

After payment of the pre-scribed charges, the connec-tion will be sanctioned and ameter will be issued to the respective water inspector.The water Board said appli-cants should approach li-censed plumbers only; thelist is available on the board’s

website. However,

installationof water me-ters and bore-

well systems can be carriedout under the supervision ofa water inspector only, saidan official statement fromthe water utility.

Earlier, applicants wereforced to rely on plumbers toget new water and sanitaryconnections.

Get your waterconnection easily

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Chief ministerSiddaramaiah has expressedhis intention to link his ambi-tious Re 1 per kg rice schemeto Aadhaar. On Sunday, he di-rected state government offi-cials to carry out enrolmentof people for Aadhar card infull swing.

The chief minister’sstatement came after NandanNilekani, chairman of Uni-que Identification Authorityof India (UIDAI), called onhim at the CM’s home-officeKrishna on Sunday.

“All districts and taluksshould get Aadhaar cards.The focus should be on enroll-ing the weaker and marginal-ized sections as most of thestate and central beneficiaryschemes are linked to Aad-haar,” Siddaramaiah said.

Giving the details, Nileka-ni said the authority has dis-tributed over 34 crore cardsas against the 40-crore enrol-ment. “In Karnataka, 3 crore people have registeredand already 2.2 crore cardshave been distributed. Aad-

haar can be used as proof forobtaining ration cards,” hepointed out.

WORKING SUNDAYWhile ministers prefer to vis-it their home turfs on Sunday,three ministers – M H Amba-reesh, Satish Jarkiholi andSanthosh Lad – held reviewmeetings of their respectivedepartments.

Holding the housing port-folio, Ambareesh convenedofficials from Mandya to getmore information. All the

ministers had completed around of meetings with theofficials, but Ambareesh andJarkiholi were entrusted thejob of election canvassing inPeriyapatna assembly seg-ment, which is going to pollon Tuesday.

MEETING WITH DCsTo discuss and find a solutionto the drinking water crisisin the state, Siddaramaiahhas convened meetings ofDCs and CEOs on Monday.The chief minister is also ex-pected to hold a video confer-ence with other district offi-cials to know the situation.Meanwhile, Siddaramaiahsaid he has asked advocategeneral (AG) Ravivarma Ku-mar’s opinion on the allegedcash-for-post scam in Karna-taka Public Service Commis-sion (KPSC).

PATIL GETS PORTFOLIOSR Patil, who was inductedinto the Siddaramaiah minis-try on Saturday, has been giv-en IT/BT/science and tech-nology/ planning andstatistics portfolios.

CM wants to link ricescheme to Aadhaar

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Cycling 2,800km all the way from Pun-jab to Bangalore – all for re-ducing greenhouse gasemissions.

As an air-conditionermechanic back in Ludhia-na, Sanjay Verma knew ve-ry well how much the envi-ronment was beingpolluted. The 27-year-old,along with a group offriends, launched, ‘SatyaMalhotra’, a local NGO inLudhiana. “We promoteorganic farming, planta-tion and cycling to help re-duce greenhouse gas emis-sions,’’ he said after a21-day cycling expeditionwhich reached Bangaloreon May 5.

Sanjay started his solojourney from Ludhiana onApril 14, to convey the ‘gogreen’ message. He trav-elled 2,800 km spanningPunjab, Haryana, NewDelhi, Uttar Pradesh, Ra-jasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh, and fi-nally reached Karnatakaon May 5. It took Sanjay 21days to cover the distance.On the way he held a rallyin Ambala, spreadingmessages like “Save water,save life” and “Clean Am-bala, green Ambala”. The

rally drew over 150 like-minded people who gath-ered to support the cause.

“Although I faced ob-stacles like extreme weath-er conditions, my journeywas great. I learned survival techniques andmet a lot of people on theway, those who shared myconcern about degrada-tion of the environment,’’Sanjay said.

Once back home, San-jay hopes to start a cyclingclub to spread awarenessand garner the support ofthe youth.

— Adiba Taj and Jentanita

Robert

He pedals forgreen mission

VROOMING FOR A CAUSEK Sunil Prasad

SAYING NO TO TOBACCO: People from various walks of life rode Harley Davidsons and other superbikeson a 17-km stretch from Queen’s Circle, Cubbon Park, to Uttarahalli Road, as part of a bikeathon, ‘Embrac-ing life, staying alive’. The participants displayed placards and colourful balloons to create awarenessabout the ill-effects of tobacco consumption. The event was organized by BGS Global Hospitals on Sunday

SHOWING THE WAY: The organization, which began with four members in Bangalore, now boasts of around 25 volunteer-members, who are basically engineers with software companies

�Blood helpline: 9480044444�Thalassemia Day Carecentre caters to around 170 children�Quick response duringdisasters like 2004 tsunami, 2011 Sikkim earthquake and 2012 Assam floods�A special website calledwww.bombaybloodgroup.org for Bombay group bloodrequests and emergencies�A monthly journal SankalpPatrikathat carriesinformation on bloodtransfusion, donation drives,thalassemia and others

Major venturesSIF volunteers are

a rare breed of

people doing great

service to society.

They have a good

list of committed donors

and we can rely on them

during emergency. Most

importantly, they have

got regular donors, even

for the rarest of rare

groups like Bombay

blood group.

Rare breed

Dr V Nanda Kishore | CHIEF

OF BLOOD BANK, MS RAMAIAH

HOSPITAL

ON THE GO: Sanjay Vermahas cycled 2,800 km all theway from Punjab to Bangalore

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