BITS Pilani gets Indian Red Cross Society Honours on National Voluntary Blood Donation Day

Oct. 8, 2009 - PRLog -- Donation of Blood is a gesture of Goodwill and Care for the fellow human beings. There is no Gift more valuable than this as it is actually a gift of life for the person who receives it. Blood is replaceable but a life is not ......

On October 1st 2009, National Voluntary Blood Donation Day, Indian Red Cross Society - IRCS not only cheered the young donors to come forward and donate blood but also celebrated the elevation of its blood bank at NHQ as a model blood bank by NACO. This is the only blood bank outside the government fold to get into this privileged group.

While in India just about 50% of the blood the country needs every year is met through voluntary donation, in China the voluntary blood donation has gone up from 45% in year 2000 to mind boggling 95% recently. It is to be remembered that age group 18-25 years comprises nearly 70% of all blood donors and it is this age group which dominates university enrollments also.

The National Service Scheme (NSS) unit of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan India has been organizing for the past twenty eight years in the month of March every year a Blood Donation Camp in collaboration with Indian Red Cross Society.

The choice of March month for blood donation at BITS Pilani is not arbitrary but due to the fact that there is always an increased demand for blood products during summer months as more children and adults are injured during this period more than at other times of the year and ironically the blood donations usually decrease during summer as most regular donors go on vacations and schools and colleges remain closed during this period.

The NSS Unit of BITS Pilani has been able to bring this high level of motivation for blood donation among the Faculty and students year after year by various measures. The hostel which donates maximum units of blood gets a running shield and invariably senior officers of the Institute like the Vice Chancellor, Deans, Wardens, etc are the first to donate blood which itself inspires the younger generation. The camp is organized in very safe and secure environment in the campus with the help of IRCS, New Delhi which itself generates confidence among the donors.

Indian Red Cross observed the day by organizing a seminar on the theme ‘Catch them Young’ at its Disaster Management Centre, New Delhi and also felicitated its regular donors and organizations partnering Red Cross in its blood campaign.  Dr. Salim J. Habayeb, India Representative of World Health Organization (WHO), was the Chief Guest for the occasion. Mr. Tim Bray, Head, German Red Cross was the Special Guest.

“IRCS has over eight million wide base of Youth Red Cross (YRC) spread across the country. We propose to start a motivational programme for youth. The aim is to initiate them into voluntary blood donation. We propose to catch them young so that they become our lifelong blood donors and end up being centurion donors. I exhort all youth above 18 years of age to enter their adulthood by becoming a blood donor as the gap in demand and supply of blood needs to be abridged. This shall be achieved by motivating and recruiting new breed of donors”, says Dr. S.P. Agarwal, Secretary General, IRCS.

The moment of pride came when Indian Red Cross announced that BITS Pilani located in Rajasthan has been contributing for the voluntary blood donation camps organized under the supervision of IRCS, New Delhi for the past nearly three decades and for the year 2009 also BITS Pilani had contributed the maximum number of voluntary blood donors in India amongst the educational institutions.  

Prof. N V Muralidhar Rao Dean, Student Welfare Division (SWD) and Prof. Vimal Bhanot Coordinator NSS represented BITS Pilani and received the honors from Dr. Salim J. Habayeb, World Health Organization’s India Representative.

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The Birla Institute of Technology and Science - BITS Pilani is a Deemed to be University established vide Sec.3 of the UGC Act, 1956 under notification No. F.12-23/63.U-2 of June 18, 1964. NAAC - National Assessment and Accreditation Council reaccredited BITS with 3.71 CGPA out of 4 and awarded “A” grade “Very Good” status. BITS Pilani has done pioneering work in industry university collaborations in terms of Practice School and Work Integrated Learning Programmes.

It is indeed a matter of pride that for the year 2009, the Birla Institute of Technology and science popularly known as BITS Pilani has been ranked among the top ranking universities along with IITs in various Magazine surveys such as India Today, Outlook, LiveMint etc. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses.