125 blood donors, who have donated blood for more than 100 times, will be felicitated on World Blood Donor Day on June 14.
Swami Adhyatmanand of Sivanand Ashram, tax consultant Mukesh Patel, auto rickshaw driver Rohit Upadhyay, associate professor in LD College of Engineering Chaitanya Sanghvi, a retired government officer Mahesh Trivedi and IIM-A employee Himanshu Bhatt all have something in common.
These men are all centurion blood donors — those who have donated blood for more than 100 times. If that isn't enough, according to statistics released by the Indian Red Cross Society's (IRCS) Ahmedabad district branch one Amdavadi gives blood every three minutes!
The society will celebrate the World Blood Donor Day on June 14 by felicitating 125 centurion blood donors with 'Sherdil Gujarat Awards'.
Mukesh Patel, president of IRCS Ahmedabad said, “Gujarat tops in blood donation in the country. Gujaratis are known for their philanthropy and the state has the lion's share in blood donation in the country. Hence, last year we initiated Sherdil Gujarat Awards, a mascot of Ahmedabad Red Cross Blood Programme.”
This year, on World Blood Donor Day, we will be celebrating 50 years of Gujarat's glory in blood donation, said Patel.
“We will be felicitating 125 centurion blood donors of the state in the presence of the governor, chief minister and the state health minister. Of the 125 centurion blood donors, 70 are from Ahmedabad,” added Patel.
Jan Narayan Vyas, state health minister said those people who criticise Gujarat for the bloodshed of 2002 riots should also notice that the state ranks first in the country for blood donation. “When it comes to population, one in every 20 Indian is a Gujarati, but when it comes to blood donation, there is one Gujarati for every 10 Indian. The average country's blood donation to population ratio is 0.63% and Gujarat tops the list of states with 1.26% ratio,” he said.
Patel added that in Gujarat, blood donation is a way of life that is imbibed in the social fabric of the state. “People celebrate birthdays, weddings and even besanas (condolence meetings) by organising blood donation camp. This shows the pro-active attitude of Gujarati community and culture, where people voluntarily come forward to donate blood and become a sort of inspiration for others,” he said.
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