Serving humanity: Odisha MLA collects swab samples of underprivileged, supplies medical equipment at own expense

The people of Rairakhol in Sambalpur and from the adjoining Angul district hailed Pujari and said his efforts contributed to checking the spread of Covid in their area.

With the influx of migrant workers from Chhattisgarh, Odisha witnessed a steep surge in Covid-19 cases in April this year. Almost immediately, Rohit Pujari swung into action to help the marginalised and destitute in his constituency. The two-time MLA from Rairakhol in Sambalpur district, which borders Chhattisgarh, purchased oxygen cylinders, oxymeters, masks, and sanitizers in bulk and paid for them out of his own pocket. He also arranged for mobile testing vans powered with solar energy for maintaining the cooling chambers where the nasal and oral swabs for are collected. Pujari, who is also the government’s deputy chief whip, urged the district administration to arrange two healthcare workers to man each vehicle and collect swab samples for RT-PCR tests. The personnel are trained, the tests are free and the response from the people has been very encouraging, the BJD MLA told India Today. Mobile testing has reached the remote areas of the district and helped amplify the administration’s efforts to conduct testing at scale.