COVID-19 has surely become a very dreadful consequence for humans all over the world. It is turning out to be one of the worst ways to die as only a limited number of people are allowed to pay last respects due to social distancing norms and sometimes the dead have to deal with apathy even after their death with instances of denial of proper burial/cremation getting reported.
Amidst this, a group of RSS workers in Nashik have been performing the last rites of those who died of COVID19. The city has seen 8 COVID deaths so far. The RSS workers performed the last rites for 5 of them out of which 1 was a Muslim.
RSS Sah Shahar Karyavah Mangesh Khadilkar, Mandar Olatikar, Dhanraj Deshpande, Advaiy Deshpande, Swapnil Joshi and Jayesh Kshemkalyani have been offering their yeoman service with the help of the district administration.
Quoting Mr. Khadilkar, the Organiser reported “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we were involved in various service works. We notice that people were hesitant in taking the bodies fearing that they would also catch Corona. In some cases, there were procedural hurdles also. This was a very sorry scene and we decided to take the onus on ourselves. According, a letter was given to District Civil Surgeon Dr. Nilesh Jejurkar who readily accepted the proposal. Since last eight to 10 days, the administration conveys us whenever such a case arises. We do not have any time frame for this service. As long as people are afraid of Corona and do not come forward to perform the last rites, we will keep doing our duty.”
Post the procedures, the Swayamsevaks have to quarantine themselves for 24 hours and are allowed to mix with their families only after medical examination.