#COVIDRelief: Wrestler Sangram Singh helps people in Haryana villages with oxygen cylinders, ration kits etc

For the last 15 days, wrestler and motivational speaker Sangram Singh has been in his village Madina (in Rohtak, Haryana), helping families with ration kits, medicines and assisting them in finding hospital beds when needed. With a surge in the number of cases in the COVID second wave, he says it has been almost impossible for people in villages to get medical assistance.“In the last 10 days or so, almost 50-60 people have passed away in my village. Some of them lost their lives not just to COVID, but because of panic and fear. In towns and cities, families are at least aware and can use social media to find medicines, oxygen cylinders etc. But in villages, people don't even have that facility. While I'm here I have been trying to help as many families as I can. Also, with the help of the village heads I am trying to create awareness among people about the dos and don’ts if they get infected, and how they can keep themselves safe,” says Sangram.
Along with his friends, Sangram has also been helping people in different villages in Haryana with oxygen cylinders. “I got in touch with my friends around 20 days back, and we started this initiative. This was at a time when no hospital beds were available and people were running from pillar to post to get oxygen cylinders for patients. We spoke to the heads (sarpanch) from different villages in Haryana and asked them to get in touch with us if someone in their area needed an oxygen cylinder. We were giving a small cylinder (with over 5L capacity) for around Rs 1000 and a bigger one (with one 10L capacity) at around Rs 2000. This was at a time when cylinders were being sold for Rs 50,000 and even higher. We helped as many families as we could. But sadly, we had to stop giving cylinders after it was brought to our notice that some people were taking oxygen cylinders from us and reselling those at Rs 60,000 and Rs 70,000. I felt sad, angry and disheartened to know that. At a time when we are facing a crisis and so many are losing lives, there are people who still just care about money. After that we stopped giving cylinders and have started a refilling service at a nominal price of Rs 200 (for a small capacity cylinder) and Rs 400 (for a higher capacity cylinder). We were getting between 50 and 100 requests each day. In the last couple of days requests have come down to between 20 and 25 each day, which is a good sign,” says Sangram, who is now also planning to set up an oxygen production plant at a hospital with over 50-100 beds capacity. “I will do this in collaboration with an NGO and am willing to invest Rs 50-60 lakh for this,” he adds.
While he has been trying to provide families with COVID resources, Sangram says he is also trying to help sportspeople facing a financial crisis. “Through my foundation, I've been helping sportspersons (and even others who approach) who need financial and medical assistance. I was doing this on my own so far, but now I am also seeking public help as well. If there's one thing we have learnt in this last one month, it is that we all have to be each other’s support. That’s the only way to survive this crisis,” he says.