This final year engineering student donated Rs 1 lakh of her savings to the Karnataka govt's COVID-19 relief. Here's why 

At this point in time, one must not blame the government but be a part of their work and do as much as they can, stresses Amulya who is a final year engineering student. Yesterday, she donated Rs 1 lakh from her savings to the COVID-19 relief dund to the Government of Karnataka. She says, "I did not donate money for the sake of publicity but it was only to help the state government. I had been saving this money for a long time in the bank. Initially, I thought to buy masks and sanitisers to distribute them among poor people. Later, I realised that the government incurs crores of loss during these days and if I donate this money then they will add it to their funds to spend it for some more people suffering from COVID-19."

Amulya is pursuing BE in Computer Science from BMS College of Engineering in Bengaluru. With the outbreak of COVID-19 all the exams have been postponed and Amulya expects hers to resume either in June or July. She says, "When I discussed that I wanted to donate money to the government relief fund, they readily agreed to it. They were very happy and appreciated this idea."

When we asked Amulya about what precautions she and her family members have been taking, she says, "I have stopped going out and my parents have stocked all necessary groceries required for a month. Of course, we wash hands frequently and the principle of social distancing has been strictly followed since last week."

Amulya believes in giving back to society and she feels that everyone can do their bit in this regard. "I am definitely happy with what the government has been doing to tackle this issue across the country and state. But am disappointed with what people have been doing. Despite the government's announcement of lockdown, they are walking out freely. People must understand that this decision has been taken in their interest and to contain COVID-19," explains this UPSC aspirant.