RAJIV KUKREJA

36, NGO SHRI RAM KIRPA SEWA SANGH WELFARE SOCIETY, FAZILKA

Private and Government blood banks should charge the same price for testing blood. Ideally, they shouldn't charge at all. Rajiv Kukreja, Shri Ram Kirpa Sewa Sangh Welfare Society

Arimary government school teacher in Dhani Vasakhasingh Village, bordering the IndiaPakistan border, Rajiv Kukreja says that if it were left to him, he would make blood donation a compulsory chapter in school textbooks. “Awareness is the key,” he says.

Need of the Hour A personal crisis at the age of 16 led Kukreja to think about blood donation. "I ran pillar to post to arrange just four units of blood for my mother. As I was underage, I could not donate myself,” he says. At the age of 18, he started donating regularly and the personal cause became a NGO when a friend needed blood at regular intervals for his child—a thalassemia patient. “I realised that a lot more could be done,” he adds.

Every Drop Counts Having received numerous awards by the State Blood Transfusion Council, both personally and for his NGO, this teacher believes that every citizen should donate blood every three months. “Stay healthy and avoid donating if you are on any antibiotics for diabetes or blood pressure. One should eat healthy to ensure a steady haemoglobin count of 12 and above, and a platelet count of 2 lakh and more when donating,” he says.

What’s Needed Stressing that there is an urgent need for infrastructure, Kukreja hopes that the private sector and individuals would come forward and donate chairs. “Fazilka may have 4,000 donors, but there's only one chair at the blood bank,” he says.