A patient needed medicines and two oxygen cylinders while on board Chennai-bound Duronto Express. A simple tweet by the patient's friend to railway minister Piyush Goyal saw him stepping in and use his discretionary power to save a precious life.
New Delhi: If customer service at your doorstep is the idea, Indian Railways has just given a textbook example of it by saving a precious life. A patient needed medicines and two oxygen cylinders while on board Chennai-bound Duronto Express.
The doctor who was to accompany the patient carrying the medicines required missed the train. But a simple tweet by the patient's friend Ankita Sood to the railway minister ensured everything was on board in the next station.
Dear sir , Ji an urgent help required for my frnd travelling by duronto & she is a patient on oxygen PNR details r given below & urgently req 2 oxygen cylinders & ORS tetra packs & the medicine shown in pic as the doc supposed to carrying these hv missed the train pic.twitter.com/YKMFqww3d0
— A warrior (@ankitasood13)Ankita provided in the tweet the requirement in details and provided the ticket details. The patient, Meenakshi, was travelling by Delhi to Chennai Duronto Express on coach number A2. It was a medical emergency as two more oxygen cylinders were required.
Meenakshi was not only finding it difficult to breathe but was also low on fluid. Meenakshi's panicked friend Ankita could think of the easiest way: to send out an SOS. She tweeted, explaining her situation to railway minister Piyush Goyal. And prompt came the response!
Sources say the office of the railway minister personally ensured the required medicines and oxygen cylinders reached the patient at the earliest. Railway Seva, a passenger support initiative of the Railways, was instructed to get cracking.
Immediately, the location of the train was tracked through the global positioning system (GPS) and the divisional railway manager (DRM) of Jharkhand was asked to arrange for the medical aid at the earliest.
At Jhansi station, a doctor, along with the medicines needed, was waiting to attend to Meenakshi. All this while, DRM – Allahabad, DRM – Jhansi and DRM – Jharkhand were in touch with the patient and higher authorities. Needless to say, the office of the railway minister was monitoring the status of help in real time. Help reached Meenakshi in time, thanks to a tweet and the response to it.
This is our when within few hours at the next station my frnd got every kind of medical help , it was not only medicines but the oxygen cylinders which is really a commendable job by & Ji ?? This is the feedback of my frnd who got help on time pic.twitter.com/2VQ476EN9j
— A warrior (@ankitasood13)Speaking to MyNation, Ankita said, "I was not in the train. But Meenakshi aunty is not on Twitter. When the family called me up for help, I tweeted on their behalf. They were very worried and was panicking. Within 30 minutes of my tweet, Railways coordinated with DRM Jhansi. In fact, soon after, DRM – Jhansi called up the relative of the patient to brief him about the arrangements made and shared the contact details of the doctors who were waiting at the station."
Later, in a communication to the officials of Indian Railways, Sreedharan, a family member of Meenakshi, thanked them for this gesture.
Sreedharan said "it is unbelievable that the current government headed by Modiji (Narendra Modi) and the Railway Ministry headed by pro-active Railway Minister Piyush Goyal" walked this extra mile to save Meenakshi's life. If the Indian Railways has been known for its trains running behind schedule, this instance is a glorious exception.
It's a textbook example of how use of discretionary power by a minister can save a precious life. It's a success story of Digital India that literally saved a life.
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