Going beyond fulfilling spiritual needs of people, a Jain temple in Mumbai is playing an important role in providing relief to the Covid-19 affected people.

This Jain temple, Tarunbharat Jain Mandir, at JB Nagar, Andheri East, earlier was converted into a full-fledged Coronavirus vaccination centre, is now inoculating beggars and street vendors who do not have any identity proof for free.

Speaking to the media, Jinesh Shah, who is in charge of the vaccination centre, said that the initiative is a humanitarian one. Moreover, he stressed that since the only way to protect oneself from the pandemic is the vaccine, inoculating those who have no idea about it is all the more important.

Also read: Oxygen concentrators provided by Gurudwara Singh Sabha reach Kochi

"They are being vaccinated under a special session that we create in the second half of our drive with the help of doctors. We counsel them before administering the vaccine as many of them do not even know about the pandemic, and are very adamant about getting injected", Shah informed the ANI.

A household help, Alka, who is a beneficiary of this initiative, is happy on being inoculated. She said:, "I did not have any identity proof or the access to technology to get myself vaccinated. I wasaware of the vaccine and was also keen about getting my dose, but with the lack of requisites and time, I could not get my shot earlier.”

Likewise, another person who benefitted through this centre is Asha. She said that although she was aware of the pandemic, she had no idea about the vaccine. She also mentioned that she did not have an identity card.

The special session saw a large number of beneficiaries attending it who were thankful for the initiative and were happy to receive their vaccine jab.

The temple, being temporarily closed for more than a year, had last month turned into a makeshift Covid vaccination centre endowed with all the facilities. Giving the much needed shot in the arm of the mega city in its fight against the pandemic, it had become the first religious place to roll out the vaccination drive on its premises.

Also read: Radha Soami Satsang Beas teams up with ITBP to care for Covid patients

The centre was outfitted with refrigerators to store vials, rooms for doctors to rest and CCTV cameras for basic safety turning into a full-fledged vaccine centre.

Shah who had initiated this move then told the media: “The derasar will be open to vaccinate everyone, irrespective of caste, creed and religion; vaccination will be done as per Municipal Corporation Greater Mumbai directions.”

Sharing his thoughts on how the centre idea came about, he said: “It’s about giving back to society for a larger cause.”

The idea was conceived by the managing committee of Kantinagar Shwetambar Murtipujak Tapagach Jain Sangh with monks living in the residential space or upashray being informed about the plan. Following this it was decided to set up the requisite infrastructure in the temple compound, the site was covered from top so that immunisation could go on smoothly even in the rains.

“The temples have been closed for almost a year now. If it has the necessary space and other infrastructure to support the vaccination drive, then why not, since it’s for the benefit of society,” said Sanjay Vora, the Sangh’s Secretary.

Religious places in other Indian cities have played a vital role in bringing relief to the people during the second surge of Covid.

Bringing relief to at least some such patients is the Kochi-based Gurudwara Singh Sabha which in association with Khalsa Aid International, a UK-based non-profit humanitarian organisation, helped the needy by providing them the critically required oxygenconcentrators.

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a spiritual organization based on the teachings of all religions, has joined the nation’s fight against the deadly pandemic by making another 33 of its centres in various cities in the country available for setting up facilities to treat Covid patients.

The centres are located in states such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It has already thrown open its facility in Delhi for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

In Delhi, RSSB has teamed up with the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Policy (ITBP) to care for the Covid infected. The Hindustan Times is reporting that RSSB volunteers are helping the ITBP at the sprawling Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Covid Care Centre (SPCCC) at Chhawla in western Delhi.

The RSSB volunteers have been working round-the-clock and tirelessly to provide free meals to not just the patients but also the doctors, paramedics, healthcare workers, ITBP personnel at the facility and the frontline workers.