Railways transports medicines for autistic teen in Ahmedabad, post-op drugs to Ratlam

The railways this week transported medicines for an autistic teen in Rajasthan and a boy recovering from a liver transplant in Madhya Pradesh, using its network to become a lifeline for people struggling to get essential drugs during the nationwide lockdown.

The individual acts of outreach from the behemoth, which is the largest railway network in Asia, come soon after it ensured that camel milk reached an autistic three-year-old in Mumbai who was allergic to all other kinds of milk.

The railways, which is transporting goods from one end of the country to another during the lockdown, has been responding to tweets and phone calls. On April 10, as reported by PTI, North Western Railway transported 20 litres of camel milk to a family in Mumbai after a woman tweeted about its non-availability for her son allergic to goat, cow and buffalo milk.

Inspired by the railways’ quick aid for the autistic child, Ahmedabad-based Hitesh Sharma called for help for his teen cousin in Ajmer and termed the prompt response a “miracle”. The 14-year-old in Ajmer is also autistic and was desperately in need of the drugs. With a lockdown in place, Sharma could not courier the medicines as he normally would.

“It is unbelievable. I called them for help and within 15 hours, the medicines reached my cousin in Ajmer in a parcel train. If this had not happened with me, I would not have believed it,” Sharma told PTI from Ahmedabad.

Recapping how the “miracle” came about, the 23-year-old UPSC aspirant said he looked through the railways list of nodal officers and found Ashish Ujlayan the assistant commercial manager, Ahmedabad division of Western Railways. He dialled him and was assured of all help.

“He contacted us saying that these medicines are not available in Ajmer and he would ordinarily courier them from Ahmedabad, but due to the lockdown he was unable to do so and approached us. We told him we would do whatever we could to help.

“He procured the medicines and we transported them in a parcel train to Ajmer the next morning. Indian Railways is happy to help in whatever way we can in these times. This was an extremely satisfying run,” Ujlayan told PTI. Sharma deposited the parcel of medicines to the railways at 6 pm on April 15 and they reached Ajmer at 11 am the next day.

Sharma's cousin suffers from autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The stock of medicines began to run out after the lockdown was extended till May 3.

“He needs Qutan SR 200 mg, Qutan 100 mg and Lovax 300mg on a daily basis. These drugs are not available in Ajmer and here too I have a fixed place from where I get it for him. I have his prescription with me and he comes here once a month for consultations. I was really worried that without the mess he could have seizures or relapse.

“I went to the railways for help and they delivered. Even now I feel as if some miracle has happened,” said Sharma. In the second case, 16-year-old Urmil Patidar, who underwent a liver transplant surgery in Chennai, approached the railways for help to ferry his medicines from the Gujarat city to Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh where he is based.

“Indian Railways are the best. Thanks to them, I received my medicines four days back,” the 16-year-old told PTI. In both cases, the railways transported the medicines till the station and the families picked them up after getting permission from their local police station.

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