Mumbai man Shahnawaz Shaikh sells his SUV to provide free oxygen cylinders to 250 families
Mumbai: 31-year-old Shahnawaz Shaikh has earned appreciation across social media platforms after he sold his SUV to provide free oxygen to over 250 families during the COVID-19 crisis, Mumbai Mirror reported. The report added that before selling the SUV Shahnawaz was using the vehicle as a makeshift ambulance to help people during Corona Pandemic.
When he bought the SUV in 2011, the Malad resident spent extra on a premium number plate – 007 – and a customized music system.
His decision to sell the SUV and provide free oxygen came when the wife of his business partner who was six-month pregnant died of COVID-19 in an autorickshaw, outside a hospital after being turned away from five other hospitals.
When he discussed the incident with his doctor friends, Shahnawaz was told that her life could’ve been saved had she been given oxygen on time. This, Shahnawaz said made him resolved to find a way to help people. He was introduced to a manufacturer by one of his friends. Shahnawaz added that the manufacturer was moved by his decision to provide free oxygen to patients and helped him thoroughly.
To acquire the oxygen, Shahnawaz sold his SUV and his friends spread the word on social media about free distribution of oxygen.
“There are just two simple things we ask from people calling to say they need oxygen cylinders - one, a doctor’s recommendation, and two, that they come to pick it up themselves,” he said. In exceptional cases, like when the entire family is in quarantine, a team of volunteers in protective gear travels across the city with oxygen cylinders. “The farthest we have traveled is from Malad to Haji Ali. Volunteers don’t enter the house and, despite wearing PPEs, maintain social distancing,” he said.
Shaikh said he gives each batch of relatives the oxygen kit and a crash course in its use, which he put together with the help of Dr. Sabauddin Shaikh of Care Hospital. He said, “[Dr. Shaikh] helped us make a video to demonstrate the use of the cylinders. He has also provided other support when needed.” Apart from this, Shaikh also advises each family to consult a doctor on the oxygen pressure required by the patient. “I’m not claiming to provide an alternative to hospitalization. All we can help with is providing life support to people with breathing difficulties,” he said.
Asked if it pained him to sell his SUV, Shaikh’s response was an emphatic “no”. “It’s not hard to give up one car to save someone’s life. Even if I’m blessed by just one grateful family for this deed, I will be able to buy four such cars someday,” he said. Shaikh recalled that just a few weeks ago, at the start of the lockdown, he had used his SUV as a free ambulance for people in Malad. “There are so many poor people in slums in this area who cannot find transportation, even to hospitals. Many of the people I took to the hospital later turned out to be COVID-positive,” he said. Because of this, Shaikh said, he has been taking extra precautions at home. His wife and two-year-old daughter live in one part of the house, which he does not enter unless he has been properly sanitized.
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Surat LS candidate Nilesh Kumbhani whose nomination form was rejected suspended from Congress
Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.
"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.
Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.
Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.
