COVID-19 knocked on the doors of the world in early 2020. It led to massive devastation and the loss of many lives and livelihood across the globe. In India, tens of millions of people were affected by the virus, and at least 1.5 million people died during the first wave of the pandemic. [1] The second wave began in March 2021 and stretched until June of that year.

It was more catastrophic then the first wave in the form of spiraling cases, reduced supplies of essential items required for treatments, and increased deaths, particularly in the young population. [2] There was chaos and confusion across the country, with many people unable to get basic medical facilities. Such tumultuous times also led to the emergence of many remarkable heroes who helped fight the war against the deadly virus with courage, determination, and resilience.

There was chaos and confusion across the country, with many people unable to get basic medical facilities. Such tumultuous times also led to the emergence of many remarkable heroes who helped fight the war against the deadly virus with courage, determination, and resilience.

One such noteworthy personality is Wing Commander Satyam Kushwaha (Retd), whose will and courage to help people in need during the COVID period saved lives of many. A decorated Veteran Fighter Pilot, he served with distinction in the IAF for over 21 years, earning two awards for his pioneering contributions. [3] He is a former Defence Specialist from NSCS, a former Chief Geospatial Officer of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, an Entrepreneur in Quantum Secure Communications, an expert in Geo-spatial Intelligence and Space matters, has also been credited by the Indian Navy for helping save countless lives in the 2018 Kerala floods. [4] Much of the work to help the people during the deadly second wave of COVID-19 was done by a team lead by the Wing Commander through KRANTII (Knowledge Resources Analytics Networks Technology Innovation and Integration), an online think-tank founded by him, primarily to “discuss ideas of nation building”. [5]

KRANTII was started as a group in 2016 to invite views of the public, industry, and various policy makers to improve the quality of policies that are being made on the National Geo-spatial Policy front. [6] Now comprising of 119 Groups covering 63 verticals, the focus of KRANTII has been to “Make India Great” by synergizing the collaborative efforts of like-minded Indians with focus on nation building as well as strengthening national interest. [7] The KRANTII discussions are undertaken in an open multi-disciplinary environment, providing a 360 degree perspective on multi-dimensional issues. [8] KRANTII teams are agile, scalable and modular offering high degree of flexibility, versatility and scalability to enable rapid proactive response. [9] Availability of multi-sectoral niche skill sets with hundreds of years of collective domain experience, makes KRANTII a formidable force-multiplier group to bring focused outcomes across geographies. [10] This dynamic capability of KRANTII Ecosystem helped Wing Commander Satyam to bring to immediate effect, a committed team to deal with the devastating second wave of Covid-19 in the country by providing a helping hand to the covid affected families across the length and breadth of the country. [11]