Lucknow, April 20 (IANS) | ‘Ek Praise Aisi Bhi’ – This is not the title of any film, but these words are like a ray of hope for the people in crisis in today’s time. There is an NGO named Ek Praisa Aisi Bhi, which is run by 42 year old Varsha Verma. This NGO is helping in transporting the bodies of people who have succumbed to the Kovid-19 infection to the crematorium and even performing their last rites.
The NGO is engaged in grassroots work especially to help the elderly and destitute. Varsha had decided to start this initiative two years ago, when she lost her friend and had to wait for several hours for a van carrying a body for his cremation. Then Varsha decided that she would not allow others to suffer in the same way. He then put up a post on Facebook asking for a hired van to lift the bodies and transport them from one place to another.
The task soon turned into a full-fledged service for Varsha and two members of her team when the pandemic broke out last year. As soon as she receives a call or a family comes to her, she takes out the van and takes the body of the person who lost his life due to Kovid-19 infection to the crematorium for the last rites. At a time when people are refraining from touching or cremating the dead body of a Covid patient for fear of spreading the infection after the death of a Covid patient, Varsha is carrying out this work without any charges.
Wearing PPE kits, Varsha and her team members visit the hospital or the house of the deceased and take the body to the crematorium. They also send the family back to their home after the last rites are performed. Funding for this comes from Divya Seva Foundation, which he established in 2017 to do social work.
Varsha said, “From childhood, we have been taught to respect the dead. At a time when people are helpless and dying every hour, it is a way of paying respect to those who are falling prey to the pandemic. “
Although it is the duty of the police to cremate the unclaimed dead bodies, but when they are very busy, they also take the help of Varsha for this. When the last rites are performed by the police, the bodies are usually packed in a cloth and carried in an open rickshaw, but Varsha arranges a vehicle and takes the body to the crematorium with respect.
Varsha said that she is getting a lot of help and support from the workers at Baikunth Dham and Gulal Ghat crematorium. Her husband, Rakesh, is an engineer and says she is also worried about Varsha at the time of this pandemic. Varsha is a role model for her daughter Nandini, who is proud of her mother and wants to be like her.