Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences launches Rajiv Gandhi Rakta Kosh in all district headquarters to encourage blood donation

According to Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society, there are 273 blood banks in the state. | Image to illustrate | Photo credit: andresr

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has taken steps to establish blood depots named ‘Rajiv Gandhi Rakta Kosh’ at all district centers in Karnataka. The initiative aims to encourage students and teachers to donate blood and ensure local availability of blood for the needy.

In addition, measures are being taken to promote platelet donation with the decision to facilitate direct contact between platelet donors and recipients. The effort is to develop specialized software for this purpose.

What the data shows

According to data from the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society, there are 273 blood banks in the state, which include 45 government blood banks, 104 charitable private blood banks, 113 private hospital blood banks and 11 Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) blood banks.

However, obtaining blood during emergencies remains a challenge. Although many people are willing to donate, they often lack awareness of where and how to do so. So, RGUHS plans to act as a bridge between donors and recipients by setting up blood depots.

Speaking to The Hindu, Bhagavan BC, Vice-Chancellor of RGUHS said, “There are approximately 4 million students and more than 40,000 teachers in colleges affiliated to our university. However, such a large number of students lack adequate information about blood donation. Hence, we have decided to set up blood storage in all district headquarters.”

Dedicated website

A dedicated website is also being developed for the Rajiv Gandhi Rakta Kosh. “We collect comprehensive data from all students at the time of their admission to colleges. Subsequently, students and staff willing to donate blood will be registered on this website with details such as their blood type and full address. The names of donors and other details will be kept confidential. Information about the availability of specific blood types in different districts will also be displayed on the website. If someone with a requirement for blood and a step forwards a request to students with the necessary details, we will immediately forward the information to the students who details, teachers will be volunteer donors match their blood types and facilitate the donation process,” said Dr. Bhagavan. However, no student will be forced to register for blood donation. They will only register those who agree to do so voluntarily, he added.

“We will set up a repository in all districts. Moreover, we will set up a central repository in the university from where all the districts will be monitored. Information about available donors in each district will also be put on the website so that people can contact local donors and get blood,” explained the Vice-Chancellor.

For donating blood platelets

Dr. Bhagavan further said that blood donors are plentiful but platelet donors are few. “People don’t really realize it,” he said.

“Even though there is a high demand for platelets, there are very few donors. Due to the lack of public awareness, we have decided to put special emphasis on platelet donation. We will raise awareness among our students and teachers and encourage them to donate platelets,” he added.

Published – 20 Sep 2026 18:27 IST