MP and KISS & KIIT founder comes to rescue of people during Corona crisis

Each time there is a humanitarian crisis, the Kandhamal Lok Sabha MP and Founder, KIIT & KISS Dr. Achyuta Samanta turns it into an opportunity to serve the people of Odisha. In the past, be it Cyclone or a drought, he and his educational institutes were always seen in the forefront of helping people in the crises. Now in the time of COVID-19 pandemic he is standing by the side of the Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik's government for any assistance that he can hand out. Gautam Sen of Millennium Post spoke to him on his successful completion & operation of first exclusive COVID-19 hospital in Bhubaneswar and other initiatives.

Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bhubaneswar is credited with setting up the first exclusive COVID-19 hospital in India with support from the Govt. of Odisha. Tell us more about this initiative.

With COVID-19 pandemic reaching India and also Odisha, Govt of Odisha approached us for a dedicated COVID-19 hospital. I took the opportunity and convinced the KIMS management to seize this opportunity. We were able to build an exclusive 500 bed COVID-19 hospital in a record time of 5 days. It has 50 ICU beds and a separate medicine block with 2 super specialty blocks for gastroenterology. Honorable Chief Minister declared it functional and now it is serving people of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

Besides exclusive COVID-19 hospital, how are you supporting the government in its effort to contain the pandemic?

Firstly, we are only an authorized NGO to assist the Govt in this time of crisis. Govt of Odisha has handed over 3 tribal districts; Bolangir, Mayurbhanj and Kandhamal, to us for COVID-19 care. As you know we have Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in these tribal areas. So we have built 200 bed COVID-19 hospitals with 20 ICU beds in each of these districts. These hospitals have been financed by the state govt., but the manpower and running expenses are being borne by KIMS. The staff of KIMS Bhubaneswar travel 500 kilometers to these districts to mange and supervise the care work that is going on. Now all three are running successfully and helping the patients from these districts.

New hotspots have come up in some of the districts of Odisha. As thousands of migrant workers start arriving in the coming weeks, many districts may witness a spike in cases. Have you done anything to deal with this situation also?

Govt of Odisha has made excellent arrangement for the migrant workers and whatever the govt instructs, we will be ready to help the govt. Apart from dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in Bhubaneswar and 3 tribal districts, we have also made arrangement for their accommodation and isolation beds in the hostels of KIIT and KISS. Even now we have provided accommodation to call centre workers in our institutes as we have huge infrastructure.

As academic institutions, what steps KIIT and KISS have taken to ensure safety of their students and minimize the academic loss to them?

We closed these institutes well before the lockdown and have arranged to send 30,000 children back to their homes. We don't know when these institutes will open now. All the students are connected online and their classes are going on as usual. And the online examination will be conducted too.

KIIT and KISS are known for their social responsibility and have responded swiftly in past natural calamities. How the two institutions are reaching out to the vulnerable groups this time?

The entire strength of the staff has been put to use to distribute food items to the poor and needy in the districts. Each day we are able to feed 40,000 people in far flung areas of Odisha. One lakh sanitary napkins have been distributed in 10 districts of Odisha and the same number will be distributed next week.

With the lockdown in place we have distributed food to animals too, such as dogs, cows, monkeys and birds. We have also adopted one big peacock sanctuary with 128 peacocks. One person was taking care of them but he ran out of fund so we stepped in to help him by giving food for one year. In my parliamentary constituency we help the ashrams and also old age homes.

The pandemic is likely to cause a major disruption to the economy and livelihoods. What are your plans in the post-pandemic scenario?

Once the Corona Virus crisis is over, we will come forward to help whichever way people asks us to help. Right now our own income from the hospitals and institutes has stopped. Even then whatever is possible will be done for the people of Odisha.