Keventers is running a fundraising campaign in partnership with EduTennis, an initiative of the Amba Dalmia Foundation Trust, to raise Rs 1 crore to support Delhi-based institutions and grassroots organisations in their efforts to provide vital care to Covid-19 patients. Their main focus is on giving life-saving oxygen to individuals in need in the Delhi NCR area. Agastya Dalmia, Director & CEO of Keventers and Managing Trustee of Amba Dalmia Foundation recently joined NewsX for an exclusive interview as part of the NewsX India A-List and spoke about their ongoing initiative. He said, “These are difficult times and as citizens of India, every one of us has a responsibility to combat this crisis in our respective capacities, We, as a brand, have the resources and connections that we want to leverage and optimise as well as build up a structure that allows us to do so.”
He added, “When there was a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases, it led to a breakdown of the medical infrastructure. There was a lot of stress on hospitals. There was a paucity of oxygen, ventilators, and BiPAP machines among other equipment. We all decided to work on this problem and fix it as much as possible. This meant addressing the issue by giving more Covid Care facilities like beds, ventilators, BiPAP, machines, and oxygenated beds to hospitals as well as building oxygen generating facilities. We found out that there was a lot of oxygen available in different areas, and due to lack of cryogenic containers and other things, oxygen wasn’t being able to get transported from one area to another. An oxygen generation facility enables the hospital to be self-reliant. This was a crucial step. We need to continue to do this. Even in the future, when a third wave and a fourth wave comes, we should be more prepared than before.”
Divulging details about the team behind the initiative, Agastya said, “It was run by the Keventers team and they helped me in sourcing and identifying the on-ground requirements of various hospitals and NGOs, like Harmony House. They helped me in pulling together and giving volunteers all sorts of transporting materials and spoke with the doctors and hospital staff to better understand the shortage of equipment.”
Addressing if there was a single event or tipping point behind starting this initiative, he said “I don’t think there was a specific moment. There was a surge in Covid-19 cases as well as lockdown. We could see there was a crisis. We just tried to do what we could and catered to the needs of as many hospitals as possible. So, there was no moment as such but the way things were going from bad to worse and everyone tried to do their best including us.”