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‘Away from limelight’: Meerut doctor works non-stop without leave to save lives amid Covid-19 crisis
The medical college lab was set up on March 23 to perform RT-PCR tests and Garg was made its in-charge with twelve staffers. He has not taken a single day’s leave in these 176 days.
Far away from the limelight, there exist many corona warriors working quietly to help fight the virus and save people’s lives. Dr Amit Garg, microbiologist and in-charge of Covid-19 lab in Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial (LLRM) Medical College, Meerut, is one such warrior who has been part of the battle against Covid-19 for the past about six months.
The medical college lab was set up on March 23 to perform RT-PCR tests and Garg was made its in-charge with twelve staffers. He has not taken a single day’s leave in these 176 days.
His mother Gunmala Garg got infected with Covid-19 but he returned to his lab after admitting her in a private hospital in Noida.
“My friends and wife took care of my mother because I was engrossed in testing of samples in the lab,” said Garg who leaves home every day at 8 am for his lab but there is no fixed time of returning home.
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Garg’s wife, Charu, is a pathologist. The couple’s son is pursuing B Tech from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, and daughter Nandini is a student of class 9.
Charu said both their children were pursuing their studies from home these days due to the pandemic but in the past six months met their father only on few occasions.
“He (Garg) remains occupied on the phone even after returning from his lab and also before leaving for the lab in the morning. All his phone conversations concern people’s Covid-19 reports,” Charu said.
Recalling their pre-Covid days, she said the whole family used to meet over tea and enjoy the weekends with friends and relatives. “Now, everything has come to a halt with his busy schedule. But I am satisfied and feel proud that he has been working dedicatedly and doing his best to save the lives of people,” said Charu.
Garg pursued his MBBS from GSVM Medical College, Kanpur, and thereafter pursued MD from KGMU, Lucknow in 2003. He then completed a one-year course on infectious diseases from SGPGI, Lucknow and worked there as a senior resident doctor in 2004-2005 before joining LLRM Medical College in 2006.
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Speaking about his colleagues, Garg mentioned about lab technician Manoj who also had not taken a single day’s leave during the pandemic and was supporting the team with utmost dedication.
He, however, made no bones about admitting that they have been facing staff shortage for testing because in beginning they were testing 100 samples a day which has now increased to almost 3,000 samples per day.
“I request for more staff and the college administration has assured me that my request would be fulfilled soon,” said Garg.
