SILCHAR, July 30 - Loss of blood and unavailability of suitable blood for transfusion are often the cause of many a death, especially in accident and emergency cases. It is at such times that the services of blood donors are the most necessary. In a bid to facilitate the easy access to blood donors by needy patients, two students from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Silchar, Mayukh Chakraborty and Saumyadip Saha, in association with the Society for Pathology, Silchar, have developed a mobile application called BloodMate.
The application was launched on Friday at a function held at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital here.
Mayukh Chakraborty, a 7th semester student of Electronics and Communication, and Saumyadip Saha, who is from Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, said: �People come to us with queries regarding the availability of blood at crucial times. This made us think to link the donors and receivers through an app.�
The duo claimed that this was the first-of-its-kind app in the Barak Valley and said that the SMCH is the nodal centre and the donors will be registered on the app on the basis of proximity. They added that the name of a donor, who has already donated blood, would be removed from the list of donors for a period of 120 days. Saumyadip informed that the app is available on Google Playstore.
Dr Shilpi Rani Barman, SMCH principal, was the first to register her name as a donor on the app. She thanked the app developers from the NIT and urged the students of the college to register their names for a great cause. Dr AS Baisya, Superintendent of the hospital, also congratulated the youths.
Dr Rajib Biswas, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, SMCH, and general secretary of the Society for Pathology, an NGO run by doctors from the Department of Pathology, said that the app would narrow down the gap between blood donors and recipients. �In times of distress, people have lesser options to contact blood donors. When the young students approached us with the idea only a month ago, we extended our support. The young engineering students have done a commendable work and we believe this step will help remove the grey areas related to blood donation and availability,� Dr Biswas said.
Meanwhile, Cachar Deputy Commissioner S Vishwanathan also praised the initiative, saying that it was a wonderful app. An awareness programme to eradicate corneal blindness, organised by local organisations Keshav Smarak Sanskriti Surabhi and Saksham, was also held on the sidelines. Subhrangshu Shekhar Bhattacharjee, president of Keshav Smarak Sanskriti Surabhi, lauded the effort behind developing the mobile app. Supriya Deb, a differently abled student from Dolugram in Cachar district who cleared the HSLC examination this year, was also felicitated by the organisers of the ceremony.
