Two Good Samaritans Bring Lifesaving Hope To Needy, Revolutionise Blood Donation In Prayagraj, Lucknow
Two blood banks, run by Pal Shukla and Vanshika Jain, are helping thousands of patients requiring blood with the motto of 'service from heart.'
Published : October 8, 2025 at 3:52 PM IST
Prayagraj: A blood bank started in 2022 after witnessing the shortfall of blood and platelets during the Covid pandemic is now supplying blood to 300 hospitals in Prayagraj and Lucknow.
It is being run by Pal Shukla and Vanshika Jain who have studied healthcare management in the United Kingdom and wanted to do something different for the society. The journey began with the Medvedic Healthcare Private Limited that led to the opening of Health City Hospital Blood Centre in Lucknow and Cantonment General Hospital Blood Centre in Prayagraj in August this year.
Vanshika said, “We hope to address the blood requirement of districts around Prayagraj with the latest facility. We have been supplying up to 1000 units of blood from the Lucknow centre every month.”
She related that patients suffering from thalassemia, anaemia, cancer and liver ailments along with children having special needs are being provided up to 30 units of blood free of cost and even their relatives do not have to donate blood. The poor are also not charged and the facility itself manages donors.
She further said that the other blood recipients are provided blood on the nominal rates prescribed by the government that includes test and processing charges. The general patients are provided blood in return for donation by their relatives or others.
Vanshika added that the patients have to come with a prescription or demand slip issued by a hospital and they are provided the blood after the due procedure.
Pal related that since the facilities are providing blood to a large number of people, they are always looking for voluntary donors and replacement donations.
“This helps maintain a regular stock and there is enough for emergency situations,” he said.
The facilities at Lucknow and Prayagraj are being run according to the government norms with the help of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and institutional partnerships.
Vanshika said that everything is being done in a transparent manner. She said that the Lucknow centre has a turnover of Rs 3 crore and the staff has been hired from reputed organizations.
The blood bank at Lucknow can store 500 units of packed red blood cells (PRBC), 800 units of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and 60 units of random donor platelets (RDP). The storage facility in Prayagraj is also the same.
Vanshika added, “We see these blood centres as a part of transfusion medicine and try to ensure that a patient is provided a good environment, counselling and easy procurement of blood.”
She also pointed at misnomers that continue to prevail which result in relatives being reluctant to donate blood.
She said that the Medvedic Blood Bank organizes regular camps to make people aware and bust the myths around blood donation. The counselling of attendants is done and people are told that blood donation results in fresh blood formation in the body.
Vanshika said that unfit donors are denied donation while anaemics are prescribed medicines after counselling. “If there is no donor available, we make arrangements from our end. We want to provide public welfare facilities in a corporate culture,” she added.
Vanshika and Pal have been awarded by the Uttar Pradesh government for healthcare management and community health development. Vanshika has also been recognized as Woman Entrepreneur and awarded by the Governor Anandiben Patel.
Pal added that their institution runs awareness camps for women having iron deficiency and they are counselled by dieticians.
He said the motto of their institution is ‘Sewa Dil Se’ (Service From The Heart). There are examples where people with rare blood groups have been able to get blood with the help of a donor database maintained by the institution.
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