CHANDIGARH — Solan-based Shoolini University has taken the initiative to provide medical relief to covid patients primarily in the rural areas of Solan district of Himachal Pradesh.
The relief includes provisions for about 100 beds, along with necessary medical equipment like oxygen cylinders and concentrators, ventilators and other ICU facilities. The University has set a target of funding relief worth about Rs one crore and has already generated about Rs 75 lakh for the purpose.
The funds are to be utilised in association with the Himachal Pradesh government health department after consultations with the state Health Minister Mr Rajiv Saijal and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The first of the Yogananda Covid Care Centres is in the process of being established at Sultanpur village with provision of 18 beds and steps are being taken to set up another centre in Kandaghat tehsil shortly.
The project was conceived and executed by the senior management of Shoolini University including its Chancellor Prof P K Khosla, president of the Foundation for Life Sciences and Business Management Mrs Saroj Khosla, Pro Chancellor Mr Vishal Anand and Vice Chancellor Prof Atul Khosla who made personal contributions to set up the fund.
The fund was augmented by philanthropists and social workers like Mr Raj Khosla, an NRI, who contributed Rs 13 lakh and the Vardhman Group whose chairman Mr SP Oswal contributed Rs five lakh. Mr Raj Khosla had earlier made an endowment of Rs one crore to set up a cancer research centre in the University campus. Mr Ramesh Softa and Mr Jyoti Bhupendra also contributed amount of Rs five lakh each.
The staff of the University has also offered to donate one day’s salary towards the fund.
Prof P K Khosla has appealed to the citizens to contribute to the fund. He said the funds would be used with sacred responsibility to help out poor and marginalised sections of society living in rural areas.
Vice Chancellor Prof Atul Khosla, who used his resources to organise oxygen concentrators and other life saving equipment, said the University would provide whatever assistance is required by the authorities. He said that the University ambulance would also be made available for transportation of covid patients to health facilities.
The Vice Chancellor said that 18 fully equipped beds for covid patients would be put up in the University Health Centre and the same number of beds would be made available at Shoolini Institute for Liberal Arts and Business Management (SILB).
The University campus is currently closed but online classes are being conducted for the students through it own online learning platform.
