Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, who is president of the State branch of the Indian Red Cross Society (ICRS), on Tuesday asked the District Collectors to adopt five or six villages each every year and conduct medical camps to ensure that the villagers were 100 per cent healthy.
He was speaking after giving away rolling shields and cups for the good work in the districts, in collecting blood, membership and registration fees and for flood relief work.
Shortage of blood
While the number of blood units collected was increasing every year, it was still not sufficient, given the rise in the population, he said, suggesting that Collectors could work towards having a blood bank in all big government hospitals in their districts. He asked the Red Cross volunteers to target colleges and help imbibe a sense of social service in impressionable minds, he said.
Earlier, State Secretary, ICRS, former Chief Justice A. Lakshmana Rao said the performance of the society was improving year after year, be it in collection of blood or providing succour to people during natural calamities.
Shields
East Godavari bagged two rolling shields for collecting the highest membership fee and collection of highest college registration fee and Youth Red Cross students subscription, while Guntur got the rolling shield for collecting the high school registration fee and Junior Red Cross students subscriptions. The A.P. State branch stood first in the collection of voluntary blood units in municipal areas, while Mahabubnagar got the rolling shield for the same work in non-municipal areas.