KOLKATA: As a teenager, Churki Hansda had done all kinds of odd-jobs, including being a nanny in Kolkata, to support her family. The hardships steered the tribal woman from a remote village in Birbhum to take up driving lessons. And, during the second wave of the pandemic, the 30-year-old Santhali had driven around Labhpur in Birbhum to deliver oxygen at doorsteps to those who needed it.
On Wednesday, Hansda was among eight ambulance drivers felicitated by Covid Care Network (CCN) and Liver Foundation West Bengal (LFWB) who had roped them in for a joint initiative called Oxygen on Wheels.
After her graduation, Hansda started working for an NGO called Suchona in Birbhum where she did accounting jobs and translated short stories for children in Santhali. She took up driving in 2014 when the NGO enrolled her. “During the second wave, when Monisha di, the principal of Labhpur Girls’ High School, told me that CCN and LFWB were looking for ambulance drivers to deliver oxygen concentrators to Covid patients, I just took up the task,” said Hansda, who received training in how to use oxygen concentrators.
Similarly, in Howrah, Sonali Kundu donned her PPE kit every day to deliver oxygen concentrators to homes.
“Hansda and Kundu set an example by not only taking up the assignment to drive for the Oxygen on Wheels project, but by also being so involved in their work,” said Parthasarathi Mukherjee, secretary, LFWB.
The Oxygen on Wheels project would have three persons on board — the driver, a helper and a volunteer from CCN — while delivering oxygen. But during the peak of pandemic, CCN ran short of volunteers. That was when these drivers had to double up as volunteers and learn how to use and fix the oxygen concentrators, pulse oxymeters, and other devices.
“We also felicitated six men, also ambulance drivers, for their commitment to the project,” said Satyarup Siddhanta, secretary, CCN.
The others felicitated on Wednesday were Karttick Mondal, Manik Das, Avijit Gayen, Bikash Das, Purusottam Santra and Asha Mali.
