Bhubaneswar: Nineteen women COVID warriors were on Monday, felicitated at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) on International Women’s Day for their exemplary courage in battling the pandemic that had brought the world to a grinding halt last year.
Saswati Das, vice-president of SOA, felicitated the doctors, nurses, and other support staff who worked round the clock at the SUM COVID Hospital to save lives while facing the threat of infection themselves.
Those felicitated included Dr. Rajashree Panigrahi, Dr. Rakhi Ludam, Dr. Priyadarshini Behera, Dr. Sonali Parida, Dr. Padmalaya Thakur, Dr. Sivani Nanda, Dr. Namrata Narayan, Dr. Bindu Ganesh, Dr. Ramaya Varda, Kamalini Mallick, Archana Tripathy, Rashmita Pradhan, Madhusmita Sahoo, Priyadarshini Pradhan, Aparna Senapati, Rajashree Das, Rameswari Singh, Pratima Mohara and Mami Mohanty.
Speaking on the occasion, Saswati Das hailed the efforts of the frontline workers as exemplary in the midst of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
As the pandemic struck, SOA joined hands with the state government in running four standalone COVID hospitals at Bhubaneswar, Talcher, Kendrapara and Chandpur as also two COVID Care Centres having more than 2200 beds including ICUs.
“It was a great and satisfying experience as we battled the pandemic for seven months,” Dr. Bindu Ganesh, an anesthetist, said.
The programme was jointly organised by the NSS unit of SOA and Preservation, Propagation and Restoration of Ancient Culture and Heritage of India (PPRACHIN), SOA’s conservation arm. Responding to the felicitation on behalf of the honoured medical professionals, Dr. Rakhi Ludam said the battle against COVID-19 was fought with courage and in a spirit of cooperation.
Prof. Sudam Chandra Si, Dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (SPS), faculty of pharmaceutical sciences of SOA, Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean (Students’ Welfare), Dr. Gayatribala Panda, Head, PPRACHIN, Ms. Sarita Patel, Regional Director, NSS and Dr. Nachiketa Sharma, SOA’s NSS Coordinator, also spoke.
Saswati Das also planted a sapling on the university campus to commemorate the occasion.
