AFTER ascending the chair of the chief minister for the third time, Mamata Banerjee has done little to address the gargantuan task of combatting the rising number of patients infected by the killer coronavirus. Insufficient hospital beds, ICUs, oxygen beds, were quickly taking the situation out of control. As the numbers started spiralling, people ran from pillar to post to lay their hands on oxygen cylinders. Transporting critically ill patients to the hospitals was a nightmarish experience for the family members of the afflicted as ambulances were not readily available.

Sights of patients gasping for breath, waiting outside hospitals became a regular feature of the front pages of newspapers. The government was nonchalant. Nothing was done to alleviate the sufferings and hardships of those families where all the members were down with Covid-19. Desperate for survival, the Covid-19 afflicted had to step out of their isolation to gather food, medicines and other essentials for their families, thereby infecting other unsuspecting people. There was complete mayhem with the number of disease-ridden and dead shooting up. The crematoria were overflowing with dead bodies. People were stripped of their dignity even in death when dead bodies of Covid-19 patients were dumped together and set on fire.

Very little of these horror scenes were written about in mainstream media. While the focus of the entire nation was on Delhi and the gruesomeness that was unfolding there, West Bengal slipped down a couple of notches every day.

And then came the Red Volunteers, a group of approximately a lakh of young, sprightly, extremely courageous, dedicated and conscientious activists who have literally taken the state by storm by their selfless services. This group consists of CPI(M), SFI, DYFI, CITU and AIDWA workers. Many among these volunteers are CPI(M) sympathizers and supporters who have joined the bandwagon throwing caution to the wind. The results of the just concluded assembly elections did not dither the activists, on the contrary it acted as a catalyst to inspire them to devote themselves to the cause of humanity. They are omnipresent, omniscient, always on their toes and at the beck and call of every resident of the state.

They are performing all those services that are the responsibility of the government. The Red Volunteers can be seen carrying oxygen cylinders on their shoulders and reaching it to the homes of patients who need it and helping them to set it up. They are arranging ambulances to take the critically ill to the hospitals. The volunteers are home delivering medicines and other essential items to the families which are self-isolating or are in quarantine. Home cooked nutritious food is also being home delivered by the Red Volunteers to all those families who need them. Their activities do not stop here. They are also maintaining a database of available hospital beds which is helping in guiding patients to a hospital closer to their residence.

A Facebook page and a Facebook group has been created. The Red Volunteers Group has one lakh plus members while the page has thirty thousand plus ‘likes’. As the surge of the second wave became upwelling the young SFI, DYFI activists got together and formed small groups in their localities. Their WhatsApp numbers were circulated widely using social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. As soon as a post asking for help is being shared in the Facebook Red Volunteers Group, immediately his or her location is being tracked and then she / he is being connected to her / his local Red Volunteers team. In case of emergency or if the person seeking help is old and infirm, the group admins themselves are taking the initiative to connect the distressed person to her / his local Red Volunteers team.

In order to provide a seamless service to the people, the activists working in the real world are maintaining a close liaison with the volunteers manning the social media platforms. A bunch of young comrades are daily approving some 5-6 thousand posts after scrutinising them thoroughly, adding new members, guiding the aggrieved persons and connecting them with the volunteers and all this work is being done through a messenger group. This group of volunteers working online to coordinate the whole exercise reside in different parts of the country and belong to different professions. They are all unknown to each other but at this hour of crisis are toiling night and day to bring relief to the patients and their families. Many WhatsApp groups have been formed to dissipate different information like availability of oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, life-saving medicines, ambulances etc. Volunteers work round the clock to verify different leads.

Close to three thousand volunteers are working online to ensure that help or assistance is extended to the concerned person. Constant touch is being maintained with the patient or their family members to make sure that the problem has been addressed. These volunteers do not give up till each and every call is answered and each and every crisis has been resolved. They doggedly pursue each case till it is fixed.

But it is not a success story all the way. There are many failures and setbacks. There is an acute shortage of oxygen cylinders, many medicines are in short supply, black-marketing is ruling the roost. Defying all the obstacles the Red Volunteers are facing each challenge and overcoming them. Nothing seems to deter them. No not even the post-election mob violence. Red Volunteers were the butt of ridicule and violence. They were severely beaten up and grievously wounded. At the same time, the people of West Bengal have come out in support of them, saluting them, acknowledging their self-less services. Congratulatory messages have poured in from different parts of the country and the world. Eminent public figures like national-award winning film director Srijit Mukherjee has, not once but twice, tweeted recognising and saluting the services of the Red Volunteers. Many have come forward to provide monetary help while others have offered to buy PPE kits for the volunteers.
If the Red Volunteers had not made the timely intervention, West Bengal would have had to endure much more suffering and many more deaths. The lack in governance was made up by these self-less youngsters. That the public health system in West Bengal is in shambles was proved once again. It was proved that in spite of getting adequate time to prepare for the second wave, the state government did nothing, thereby endangering the lives of crores of inhabitants.