First-aid boxes in Bangalore get no aid
First-aid boxes that were put up at various traffic signals in the city are lying empty, and no organisation is coming forward to refill them.The boxes were put up past year with financial assistance from Red Cross Society. However, nobody looked after their maintenance and they are lying abandoned.Surya Seva Kendra, in association with the Red Cross, has placed the boxes at major traffic junctions in the city. These boxes contained basic necessities to attend to minor injuries owing to road accidents. These boxes were put up not only in Bangalore, but also near Nagamangala for the benefit of people during emergencies.There were no problems in the beginning for finding sponsors and philanthropists, but the momentum ebbed after a few months. “I availed of financial assistance of `50,000 from the Red Cross. I managed to get 100 first-aid boxes and put them up at some important traffic junctions in the city,” said TN Ravi Kumar, the founder of Surya Seva Kendra.According to Kumar, initially many medical stores and clinics had come forward to take up the task of maintaining the first-aid boxes, but they did not continue to support the initiative after a few months. Some miscreants also played spoilsport, discouraging philanthropists from coming forward for the maintenance of the medical kits.“Initially, medical store owners were ready to fill up the first-aid boxes with medicines and other material. Later, they started demanding that I put up the first-aid boxes near or in front of their medical stores. Also, I was disgusted to see a few autorickshaw drivers taking away medicines and other material from the first-aid boxes,” narrates Kumar.To encourage people to sponsor this cause, he had put up banners about the medical kits, but the BMBP staff removed them without realising the purpose of putting such banners. “I have approached the BBMP for assistance not only to continue this programme, but also to put up more and more first-aid boxes in other parts of the city. They, including the then deputy mayor Harish, assured me, but nothing has happened till now,” he rued.First-aid boxesCV Raman Nagar : 22Gayathri Nagar : 15Near Vidhana Soudha : 20Kamakshipalya : 10Minerva Circle : 15Nagamangala : 5