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Hans India
14-06-2025
- Health
- Hans India
‘Blood' connects them for rest of their lives!
Visakhapatnam: They may not be blood-related. But 'blood' connects them for the rest of their lives. As 'World Blood Donor Day' is celebrated on June 14, a section of donors share what donating blood means to them, offering support in the nick of time, saving lives and striking a chord. With the theme focusing on 'give blood, give hope: together we save lives', the occasion serves as an effective platform to build awareness about the importance of donating safe blood to treat patients, contribute to narrowing the gap between demand and supply and thank the unconditional support of voluntary donors. After donating blood for 55 times, DGM (Operations) of Blast Furnace, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited Karri Srinivas says that he looks forward to contributing to the cause. There are several reasons for it. 'One, it envelops me with a sense of happiness as I could save lives. Two, my blood group is O negative which is pretty rare. Three, survival chances among patients is quite high when I donate,' he shares. Started at the age of 24, Srinivas says that his mother and wife have been quite supportive in encouraging him to reach out to patients. There were times when he travelled all the way to Vijayawada from Visakhapatnam to donate blood for a dengue patient. 'In another case, parents of a day-old infant required blood transfusion due to Rh incompatibility. When I volunteered to donate blood, they were so relieved. The parents invite me for special occasions as they consider me as their family member,' Srinivas recalls. Being part of the app ' Srinivas says that he is among wilful donors list registered in the app and emphasises the need to popularise such platforms so that more number of volunteers could reach out to patients whenever need arises. Striking a chord At 69, Pilla Venkata Ramanamurthy, visiting faculty at Dr Lankapalli Bullayya College, says that he had donated blood 105 times so far. 'I started donating blood regularly from 21 years of age as I consider it a commitment towards society. As my blood group is O positive, I volunteered to donate in several camps held across the city,' he recalls. Although he donated blood up to the age of 65, the Sanskrit lecturer mentions that if permitted, he would still look forward to contributing to the cause. 'But as the upper age limit for repeat donors is 65 years, I could not donate anymore. However, this trend has to change in India as the upper age limit for blood donation in some of the foreign countries is 80. I think donors should be allowed to donate blood as long as they are healthy,' he opines. Even now, Venkata Ramanamurthy has been receiving calls from patients thanking him for reaching out to them in time. 'Through blood donation, we do strike a chord with patients and it is very soul-satisfying,' he adds. Blood is considered the most precious 'gift' that a volunteer can give to save a person who is in dire need. Those operating blood banks inform that depending on the components separated into red cells, plasma and platelets, a donor can save one or multiple lives. Marking the 'World Blood Donor Day', they underline the need to dispel myths associated with blood donation, build awareness among communities through social media platforms and organise camps at regular intervals to bridge the ever-increasing demand-supply gap.
The Hindu
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Revival package to facilitate private takeover, not to save VSP from privatisation: CITU national secretary
Former MP and CITU national general secretary Tapan Kumar Sen on Monday (May 19) said the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre hatched a plan to privatise the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), four years ago with its 'disinvestment' announcement. Mr. Sen was in the city to participate in various programmes, including a meeting with the leaders and activists of the RINL-VSP trade unions to lead a nationwide protest on May 20. Addressing a press conference at the CITU office here, he said it is the right of every citizen, including the residents of Visakhapatnam, to fight for the protection of the plant for the sake of thousands of employees and their families, and the lakhs of people who indirectly depend on the plant for their livelihood. On the ₹11,400 crore revival package announced by the Centre earlier this year, Mr. Sen said the Centre had announced the package to facilitate private takeover in the future, not to save it from privatisation, invest in its infrastructure or pay off pending salaries of employees. He pointed out that there was a hidden agenda behind the revival package. The revival package is useless without the allocation of captive mines. Private steel companies in the country have their own mines and ore units, but the government did not think of arranging for these key facilities for the PSU. 'By buying raw materials from outside, Vizag Steel Plant spends ₹4,000 to ₹6,000 a tonne on ore, whereas if it is given its own mines, it costs only ₹600 a tonne,' Mr. Sen said.
