Blood Donors Should Be Encouraged: Umar Farooq Khan

Akhila Bharata Shaheed Tipu Sultan United Front national president Kalluru Umar Farooq Khan has urged the Centre to provide free insurance cover of `10 lakh to regular blood donors in recognition of their service to society.

Khan submitted a representation to Union Minister of State for AYUSH, Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav, who was in Hindupur in Sri Sathya Sai district to attend a programme on Sunday.

In his representation, Khan said he had been involved in blood donation and mobilisation programmes for nearly 25 years and had facilitated the supply of blood in around 26,000 cases, including deliveries, emergency surgeries, treatment of children suffering from thalassaemia, anaemic women and accident victims in Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai and adjoining areas of Karnataka.

He said blood donors had earlier been provided insurance benefits as an incentive, but such benefits were currently unavailable. He appealed to the government to restore the practice and provide every blood donor with free annual insurance cover of `10 lakh.

He also urged the government to honour blood donors every year through awards at the Collector, Governor and President levels, describing them as “life saviours”. Such recognition would encourage more people to donate blood, he said.

Minister Jadhav responded positively to the representation and assured Khan that he would discuss the issue with senior officials and the Centre before taking a decision.