A year after first taking charge of serving the people of India, Sonu Sood is leading from the front with the same passion, this time preparing for the next COVID-19 wave. Sood, who has been vocal about the need to provide timely help to people suffering from the disease, is now in talks with companies in France, Taiwan and China to acquire oxygen cylinders, and set up plants in India, should the third wave hit.
“We have a Zoom meeting with them after 20 days. We should get our first set [of oxygen plants].
We are working on the logistics, and will put things together. I am learning a lot of things as we go about dealing with the pandemic.” The actor, who has been attending to requests from struggling citizens daily, has enabled them to source cylinders and concentrators. He also collaborated with hospitals and organisations to facilitate the same. Should he be able to procure the required oxygen plants from France, he hopes to provide them to states like Delhi, Punjab, Maharastra and Uttar Pradesh. Oxygen plants are large industrial systems capable of providing several cylinders’ worth of gas per day. The oxygen generated can be supplied straight to the site of use, either through a pipeline, or via cylinders.
“The idea is to be prepared for the third wave. We have upped the number of members on the team that is catering to rural areas so that we can reach out to everyone.
A group of 400 people work on every call. We have realised that there are three major factors that people are struggling with — acquiring oxygen, hospital beds, and injections. I am sure that the government is doing its bit, but, it’s important to put things together in advance, this time around.”
The actor doesn’t mince words when establishing that the country “crashed” under the burden of the ongoing second wave.
“Only one to two per cent of our GDP is spent on healthcare. So, we were never prepared for a pandemic. Yes, India is a densely populated country, but that can’t be an excuse. We have to admit that we went wrong.”
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