Railway Station Volunteering by Vizag Volunteers

The Pandemic situation has brought all the transportation to a halt cancelling all the trains from the 25th of March 2019. The IRCTC has suspended reservations for regular train services from 15th April. After the second lockdown, the Indian Railways started to operate 200 special trains from June 1st, 2020. More than 1.45 lakh passengers travelled on the first day.

The Railway Authority in Visakhapatnam has hired a few government teachers to collect the data of the people travelling from Hyderabad through the Godavari train. As the employees were irregular to work the Railway authority approached Vizag Volunteers for support.  A team of 40 was formed with the head volunteers being Mr. Satish and Mr. Animish Varma. This work started on June 5th, 2020 and lasted till July 1st, 2020. The volunteers served the Railway authority regularly from morning 5 am till 7:30 pm.  

Their work was to collect the data of the Godavari passengers travelling from Hyderabad. The volunteers were allocated the Bhogis where they would randomly select 4 to 5 people and perform a swab test. Our Volunteers being the front-end workers took all the necessary precautions and performed the tests very professionally. If any passengers showed any sign of the virus they took the Bhogi number in which they were travelling and the details of the 8 passengers travelling in the same compartment with them. Vizag Volunteers would perform tests on the 8 passengers and the people they came in contact with during their journey. Daily up to 1200 people would be tested and their details would be given to the Railway authority for future purposes.

During this activity, it is of utmost importance for the volunteers who are working along with the police staff to take necessary precautions and safety measures against the virus. So, we provided masks, face shields, sanitizers and gloves to each and every one. We have also given masks and sanitizers to RTC people, Auto drivers near the railway station, Government teachers, Railway employees, Sanitary people etc. The discipline which we maintained to reach the place before time and the safety measures we have undertaken were appreciated by many resulting in the successful completion of our activity.

Railway Station Volunteering Expenditure:

Feedback:

One of the government teachers, Mr.Srinivas who was assigned for volunteering, was very happy with the way we have provided services for one month helping to find the affected people and tracking their details. The passengers were first tense about giving tests but later told us how helpful it was to them and to their family members. Many of them appreciated the work the Railway authority along with the volunteers have been doing by taking necessary precautions and guiding those whose test results came positive to a safe place and giving consultation.

Conclusion:

We have been an individual NGO supporting certain social activities but this was the first time we have been invited by the Railway Authority to work along with them for a single cause. Our aim to reach every sector and all the people during the pandemic is the main cause behind our team. We are very thankful to the Railway authority for contacting us to be part of this project. All the other volunteers who were working hand in hand with us were happy with the work we have been doing for society. They were all filled with joy when we distributed them with safety items. It adds great value to our work to show the world what we have achieved so far in society.