New Delhi: When it was founded in 2016, KRANTII (knowledge resources analytics network technology innovation and integration) was set up as an online think-tank primarily to “discuss ideas of nation building”. But for the past three weeks, amid the devastating Covid-19 wave in the country, the organisation, founded by Wing Commander Satyam Kushwaha (retd), has been helping Covid-affected families get necessary help and immediate hospitalisation.
For this, the organisation has started several groups on WhatsApp where hundreds of volunteers coordinate and collate real-time data. It also has a WhatsApp group, KRANTII Fauji, to cater to defence veterans.
“In total, KRANTII currently has 60-65 different WhatsApp groups. One segment of it, KRANTII Swasth, has been activated for emergency rescue operations,” Kushwaha said. “Like the Army, we’re a completely apolitical group working passionately for our countrymen.”
Though it is providing assistance pan India, most of the requests that it has fielded over the last couple of weeks have come from the Delhi-NCR region.
“Our presence is definitely stronger in Northern India, but we’ve fielded requests from Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ambala, and some cities in Gujarat and Rajasthan as well,” Kushwaha said. “Now, we’re focusing on increasing our presence in peninsular India.”
Wing Commander Kushwaha (retd) is an expert in geo-spatial data, and has also been credited by the Indian Navy for helping save countless lives in the 2018 Kerala floods.
His team told ThePrint that between 6 May and 10 May, KRANTII was able to get 23 people, who sent out SOS messages to the group, necessary assistance like hospitalisation, plasma, oxygen cylinders and concentrators.
The group also has experienced domain experts such as doctors and engineers, who are both former defence personnel and civilians.
KRANTII currently has 10 separate task forces, in which 300 volunteers from Delhi’s colleges such as Kalindi and Lady Shri Ram and from the Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) in Gujarat coordinate to maintain real-time data and provide smooth assistance.
Those looking to volunteer with KRANTII, can reach out to them on @IndiaKrantii on Twitter.
Also read: No, the Western media isn’t biased in reporting Indian Covid. Here’s why
What is KRANTII
As an online think-tank, KRANTII has been active since 2016 and has been having discussions and doing research on policies related to national interest and nation building.
“Our discussions range from education, social safety and security to strategic dimensions and healthcare to sustainable development goals,” the former winger commander said. “It is primarily an apolitical, self-driven, self-enabled, not-for-profit independent group that focuses on collaborative efforts to strengthen national interest and nation building.”
At the onset of the second Covid-19, the group began to assist people.
It has SOS teams for the job. One SOS operation team includes one dedicated person (usually the attendant of the patient) who gives live updates on the status of the patient as the rest of the team works to arrange things from them with the help of the database collected by volunteers of separate task forces.
The SOS group almost always has a doctor on call who helps in taking a call on the best course of action to save a patient. Sometimes, their operations last the entire night.
“I’ve lost track of time; I usually go to sleep only in the morning and can hardly sleep for 2-3 hours,” Kushwaha said. “And believe me, that’s almost all of our team members who are juggling jobs, kids, families to help out. There are volunteers on oxygen support themselves who are helping mobilise resources for any requests that we receive.”
Helping a patient
ThePrint’s reporter had on 30 April spent some time with the group, which was then looking to save a patient in Ghaziabad whose oxygen levels had fallen below 40.
The team stuck to the operation until 2 in the night. While one team was constantly monitoring the status of ambulances nearby, another had options for oxygen beds handy along with backup options.
A doctor was constantly in touch with the family of the 65-year-old patient who at one point was collapsing. A technical expert helped the family temporarily fix the faulty concentrator they had to buy the patient time until the ambulance arrived.
Until the patient got to Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital, there were four people on standby with alternate options ready to move the patient in case Rajiv Gandhi hospital didn’t work out. The 65-year-old patient got timely medical intervention and is now recovering.
Group members say that losing a patient is hard since it feels like someone died on their watch.
Dr Kuldeep Raizada, who actively works with KRANTII, said, “It’s a very traumatic situation. Only last night, I lost a patient … and though we had arranged everything, the patient couldn’t reach (a hospital) on time,” Raizada said. “It’s like you give everything in your power but it falls short. It’s like you are losing your own fight. I have been dealing with patients emotionally for a very long time, and it’s difficult for me too. I can’t imagine what other volunteers go through.”
(Edited by Arun Prashanth)
Also read: Hit hard by 2nd wave, Bengaluru is using Mumbai’s Covid management idea to prepare for 3rd wave