In Rajasthan’s Sujangarh, Ex-Army Man Sikandar Khan Offering Free Service of Oxygen to Covid Patients
NEW DELHI – Sikandar Khan, a retired army man, has taken upon himself to provide oxygen, medicines and ration kits to needy people in Sujangarh town of Rajasthan’s Churu district. His service is free and for people of all religion. He, along with a team of volunteers, is working under the banner of Muslim Mahasbha Sujangarh. They are doing their relief work while observing Ramazan fast.
During last 15 days, Sikandar and his team has provided oxygen to 300 people and distributed 200 ration kits.
“We have started this service because there was a shortage of oxygen. People were dying. We decided to serve people for the sake of humanity. Our aim is to save lives. Every life is precious,” Sikandar told Clarion India over the phone from Sujangarh.
Sikandar retired from the army only last month after working for 17 years in the Special Forces.
He has details of all those who have been reached out with oxygen cylinders, a necessity in the wake of rising cases of coronavirus. On May 3, 4, and 5, his team gave oxygen to 19, 35 and 35 people respectively. A look at the list of beneficiaries shows that people from different communities benefited from his service.
“People from all communities – Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Chrisitans – come to us. We also provide oxygen to hospitals when there is need for it,” said Sikandar.
According to him, the government is providing oxygen to Covid patients. But owing to overwhelming number of cases not all the pateints are able to get it. “There is acute shortage of oxygen cylinders. We are trying to make this available,” he said.
He said that people from different areas like Churu, Sikar, Fatehpur, Nagod, Didvara and even from Jaipur are coming to him for oxygen.
Sikandar (left) along with his team
Sikandar says he is doing the relief works while fasting. Many a time they don’t get time to break fast formally. They do it during their work. But they don’t mind. On the contrary, they feel happy that they are able to provide relief to distressed people. “This is most satisfying,” he says.
Sikandar also said that he and his team had done relief works last year too during lockdown for the migrant workers when they had distributed ration kits worth lakhs of rupees. He said that he has no political ambition. He is doing this only as a social service.
A political activist Tayyib Mehrab Khan has lauded Sikander’s dedication. Tayyib told Clarion India that he himself took oxygen cylinder from his team when he needed it.
This story first appeared on Clarion India
