It has been more than 70 years that India got independence. However, there are still some Indian citizens who don’t have access to basic amenities such as clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. The situation is particularly poor in the rural and remote areas of the country. Even though the government has taken several steps to improve the conditions in those areas, the reality is that a lot still remains to be done in this regard.

Sikhs have always been famous for their generous nature and for helping others, and Raunak Singh is no exception. The young Sikh is from Odisha’s Cuttack. In the present times, he is playing a great role in helping many people from rural areas get clean drinking water along with sanitation and hygiene facilities. Raunak Singh founded NGO Sikh Aid in the year 2020, and since then, he and his team have been making efforts to ensure that every person, especially in the rural areas, gets water as per their needs. Not just this, they are also making the villagers aware of various water conversation techniques and also about the ways by which they can make optimum use of water.

Sanitation and hygiene are also of great importance as their lack can give birth to some serious diseases. Raunak Singh and his NGO are very much dedicated to providing proper sanitation facilities to rural people. Sikh Aid is also distributing 6,000-7,000 sanitary pads every month in these areas, as well as educating the girls and women about menstruation hygiene management (MHM). Until now, Sikh Aid has distributed more than 1 lakh sanitary pads and it aims to create awareness about this topic as in many parts of the country people shun it and consider it taboo.

Raunak Singh has been very active in the rural areas, especially in Odisha. He also provides food to the poor kids free of cost and helps everyone fight the devil of malnutrition. The seriousness of the situation can be understood by the fact that India has slipped to the 101st position (out of 116 countries) in the Global Hunger Index 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, India was at the 94th position (out of 107 countries) in the year 2020.

Raunak Singh also provides education aid to the kids who belong to the weaker sections of society and empowers them to have a bright future ahead. It won’t be wrong to call him a Corona Warrior too, as, in the first wave of COVID-19, he distributed sanitisers, masks, medicines, food and ration kits to the poor and also offered financial aid to many who lost their jobs due to lockdown. He also provided food to the migrant workers and arranged for their transportation to reach their native places without having to walk on foot anymore.

He founded Sikh Aid during this period only, and he certainly deserves a lot of praise for the Herculean efforts that he made during the second wave of the pandemic, because of which he saved thousands of lives. In the second wave, hospitals were not having enough oxygen supply. Raunak Singh emerged as the Messiah as he provided oxygen cylinders and concentrators to the hospitals and saved around 10,000 lives.

The modern-day savior Raunak Singh is a spiritual person who follows the teachings of the Sikh Gurus and believes that serving mankind selflessly is the true worship of God.

Sikh Aid, which operates on a nationwide basis, is founded on “Naam Japo, Kirat Karo, Vandh Chakho” principles.