Dehradun-born and brought-up actor-dancer Raghav Juyal has been striving arduously to serve his state Uttarakhand to battle the burgeoning second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. He has been proactively campaigning on Instagram for foreign contributions for the state.
The actor recently shared a video regarding the worsened Covid condition in Uttarakhand and how the administration had been receiving distress calls from distant villages of the state concerning medical requirements in the pandemic.
Raghav recently posted another video on social media, where he announced that he would like to do brand promotions free of cost. However, he has a condition. The actor said that rather than making payment to him for endorsing their merchandise, the brands need to support Uttarakhand with money or resources.
We at Dehra Talkies spoke to Raghav’s younger brother, Yashasvi Juyal, to know about the current scenario. Starting with the motive behind this project, Yashasvi gave us every detail to date. He said, “Our whole family got covid positive in April. When we were in the recovery phase in May, we saw that our state Uttarakhand’s condition was deteriorating day by day with many people were losing their lives.”
“We were part of various groups, and from verifying leads to arranging medical supplies, we tried our best to support the people in need. But eventually, it became difficult for us to coordinate everything on the phone as the death rate was increasing at a fast pace. Our volunteers got overburdened by the never-ending demand for oxygen cylinders, ICU beds. There even came a time when the patients and their family members started depending on the volunteers, asking them for medical advice.”
“That’s when Raghav, Viraj, Aakriti, and I decided to start a campaign where we thought of telling everyone around about the condition of Uttarakhand. We also thought of coming together and helping the authorities by procuring some help through our voices. We formed a campaign titled Please Help Uttarakhand, where I asked Raghav to shoot for a video of what was happening around. We wanted him to express his real mental state and share it with his mass audience so that organizations, authorities, influential people outside Uttarakhand can come forward and help us.”
“When Raghav’s video went viral, worldwide NGO Khalsa Aid contacted us and sent us 20 oxygen concentrators for immediate relief. We then strategically distributed these concentrators to Kumaon, Almora, Pithoragarh, Haldwani, Haridwar, and Rishikesh, with the help of several organizations. Seeing this as a good start, we planned on continuing this movement and call for as much aid as possible. We’re also working proactively as the third wave of this pandemic is predicted, and we all need to be well prepared.”
“We also contacted the Sonu Soon Foundation. Sonu Sood himself spoke to us and offered all possible help such as ICU beds, ventilators, or even paying somebody’s medical expenditure, who isn’t fortunate enough.”
“Hemkund Foundation also got to know what condition our state is in and hence, they started building their project in Uttarakhand. They have started their operations on-ground yesterday have deployed their teams in different places like Chamoli, Uttarakashi, Chakrata, as well as a base camp in Dehradun.”
“We also collaborated with activist Chinu Kwatra’s Khushiyaan Foundation. They sent us 1000 KG of oxygen and 20 50-liters D Type Oxygen Cylinders. We are also in conversation with Gujarat-based Credihealth in association with MG Motors. They are sending us 100 portable and sustainable Covid beds.”
“We also realized that we needed an administrative mind, which could help us in allocating the resources. Therefore, we got assistance from ADC to the Governor Ms. Rachita Juyal and Major Mudit Sood. In the medical sector, we got help from Dr. Puneet Tyagi. These brilliant minds suggested we allocate these resources to the Primary Health Centers in higher districts of Uttarakhand, which aren’t well equipped as of now.”
“We have started our project with Thalisain in Pauri Garhwal by sending 1000 KG of oxygen and 20 50-liters D Type Oxygen Cylinders. Yesterday, we received 50 oxygen cylinders, out of which 30 cylinders have been allocated to the PHC in Champawat and 20 cylinders to the PHC in Bageshwar. We are also trying our best to empower the CHCs, i.e., Community Health Centers so that every village can have a well-equipped medical center.”
“Lastly, we would like to thank every NGO, organization, individuals, and the authorities for cooperating with us during this difficult time. We all need to keep up with this fight and win over this pandemic!”