Blood, sweat and years, all for a cause

Sanjay Pendse / TNN / Mar 22, 2005, 02:10 IST

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PUNE: Despite countless poster campaigns and blood donation camps, blood bank reserves remain low because blood donation is restricted to a few conscientious donors, activists, relatives of patients and professional donors.

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal">PUNE: Despite countless poster campaigns and blood donation camps, blood bank reserves remain low because blood donation is restricted to a few conscientious donors, activists, relatives of patients and professional donors. Students of the Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT) have proved an exception by organising a blood donation camp every year for the last 14 years.Their latest two-day camp, held last week, proved the biggest yet with nearly 700 students donating blood. Â�gThis is a big jump because the figure was just 200 students four years ago,Â�h says student organiser Aditya Taparia. Seven hundred out of 5,000 students on campus may seem like a small percentage, but it is still the highest in the city. The college has won awards from the state health ministry and the blood transfusion council of the state for its efforts. However, it is also an indication that a lot remains to be done. An estimated 1.25 lakh bottles of blood are required in Pune every year, out of which only 60 per cent come through blood donations. The rest is donated by relatives or friends of patients on an emergency basis. The best part about VITÂ�fs effort is the participation of the students. For many students, it is their first experience of donating blood. It is only at 18 that they qualify to donate blood. Nearly 50 student volunteers come forward to organise the camp every year. Â�gA few have doubts about AIDS infections, but I go to every class before the camp and dispel their doubts,Â�h says professor H.M Khare, who co-ordinated the activity. Â�gGirls have come forward in more numbers this year. Hitherto myths about anaemia would prevent them but this year, we invited women doctors to speak to the girls,Â�h says Shalmali, a third-year student. Another interesting aspect of the VIT initiative is that the students have designed special software to create a database of all donors. Â�gRight from the photographs and medical history of the donor students to the names and numbers of their relatives, the database has been updated. The software helps trace students by blood group, locality or telephone code,Â�h explains Khare. The association with the cause remains well after college and is extended to the industry or company which employs them later. VIT past students have now become contact persons in many companies for blood emergencies. YOUNG ACHIEVERS *Saket Kumar Bhatia of the Army Institute of Technology, Dighi, has won the first prize in the Birla AT&T essay contest for engineers held recently. The subject of the competition was Â�eEngineering education for anybody, anywhere, anytimeÂ�f. The award includes a cash prize of Rs 1,000. *Navendu Patil, a final-year mechanical engineering student at the government college of engineering, Pune (COEP), has ranked 5th in GATE, the all-India qualifying exam for post-graduation in engineering and technology. NEWS YOU CAN USE *Project 2005, a two-day exhibition-cum-competition, for final-year engineering students of electronics and telecommunication, computer engineering, electrical, instrumentation and other allied branches, opened at the Institution of Engineers on March 21. As many as 98 projects from students in Satara, Solapur, Baramati and Pune are on display. WRITE TO US Would you like to express a concern, or comment on an aspect of academic life that you feel strongly about? Send us a well-written piece (not exceeding 400 words) to Campuskatta, C/o The Times of India, Times House, 577 F.C. road, Shivajinagar, Pune 411004. Fax: 5531520. E-mail: campuskatta@indiatimes. com.</div> </div>

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