Kolkata: The mega blood donation camp “Ma Er Jonyo Roktodan (Donate Blood for Devi Durga),” organised by Forum For Durgotsav, an umbrella body of over 400 community pujas in Kolkata and its suburbs, set a new record with 4330 volunteers donating blood on a single day. “I’m unaware of any initiative globally where over 4,000 people donated blood in one day. Forum For Durgotsav deserves a place in the Guinness Book of Records,” said Aroop Biswas, Minister of State Sports and Youth Affairs and patron of Suruchi Sangha Durga Puja in New Alipore.
He thanked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for providing Netaji Indoor Stadium and Khudiram Anushilan Kendra as venues. Previous editions used only Netaji Indoor, but Khudiram was added this year to accommodate the growing turnout. Chandrima Bhattacharjee, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, emphasised the societal impact. “Our Chief Minister has introduced blood separation units in hospitals, enabling components like platelets and plasma to be isolated. With 4,000 donors, around 16,000 people will benefit,” she said.
Saswata Bose, general secretary of Forum For Durgotsav, noted: “This is our ninth year organising such a large-scale camp. Last year, 3,548 people donated; this year, we reached 4,336. Our Burdwan branch saw 426 donors today.” Blood donation camps are scarce in summer, so the Forum hosts this mega camp before Durga Puja to address blood stock shortages. The collected blood will be distributed to 21 government-run blood banks across Bengal. State Industry and Commerce Minister Shashi Panja, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose, Rashbehari MLA Debasish Kumar, Kolkata South MP Mala Roy, and other Durga Puja organisers attended, encouraging the initiative.