This 26-Year-Old Indian Residing In US Raises ₹6 Crore In 6 Days For Martyrs Families

The 14 February Pulwama attack shook the nation to its core. The people of the country stood united in grief at the deaths of so many brave CRPF jawans, who martyred.

There was an outpouring of grief and the the nation mourned. There were, of course, a few anti-nationals who were rightly kicked out of their jobs. In the middle of all of this, there was one young Indian man sitting thousands of kilometers away in Virginia who was moved by the sacrifices of our jawans.

Viveik Patel, aged 26, is a Senior Business Analyst and is originally from Vadodara. Following the tragedy, he immediately made up his mind to donate to the CRPF. But he was in for a shock when he saw that the official government website Bharat Ke Veer did not accept any US debit or credit cards.

Though a bit disappointed, Patel’s determination to fund the CPRF was very high. He thus used his intellect to form a fundraiser on Facebook.

He started the fundraiser on 15 February (IST) with a goal of $500,000 (Rs 3.54 crore approx). In less than 12 hours, he collected half of the amount – $2.52 lakh of Rs 1.75 crore approx.

By 19 February, the fundraiser surpassed the goal.

Today, 20 February, the sixth day, the fundraiser Patel has collected $850,000 (Rs 6 crore approx) from over 22,000 people from around the world.

But there is a small problem. How will Patel transfer the amount? Such a massive amount cannot be transferred via the existing banking systems, so Patel is trying to figure a way to reach the Indian government directly.

He is constantly updating the page with latest information. The funds are secure. All that the Indian government has to do is get it from the US from Patel.

The Facebook Fundraiser is also supporting this initiative by helping the organizers to ensure that the money goes to the right place as quickly as possible.

Mr. Amit Lodha who is an IPS officer, Inspector General, Border Security Force and is associated with BharatKeVeer Initiative, re-tweeted and showed support from India.

Thank you for your fantastic contribution. Hopefully we’ll find a way out to work together in this noble mission. https://t.co/cCyhsseOrz

— Amit Lodha (@Ipsamitlodha7) February 20, 2019

On February 20, the Indian consulate in New York posted a press release on Facebook

Patel deserves a collective salute from the nation. Unlike many Kashmir-obsessed ‘student’ leaders, ‘award-winning’ journalists and ‘popular’ celebrities, Patel put his mind, heart and soul to doing something to help the families of the CRPF troopers.