The Story So Far
It breaks your back. But the bumpy, teeth-grinding ride is worth it; The modest single-storey building in the middle of a rocky wasteland in Bankura may not look like something much from outside, but this is where true ‘poribartan (change)’ has come. In the year 2006, Dr. Pijush Sarkar, after retiring as director of the School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata and his wife Krishna Sarkar, former Director of Nursing Services invested their life’s savings in this 6.5-acre land in Phulberia – a remote village 250 Km from Kolkata.
18th Oct, 2008 Amader Haspatal started it’s journey inside a single-storey building. In no time, this place started drawing hundreds of patients from as far away as Asansol, Durgapur and even Jharkhand every day. These villagers are unable to reach the urban hospitals because of lack of money and uncertainty about who should they meet and long waiting period.
For a registration fee of Rs 15 (in 2008), patients could get access to the kind of healthcare that is not seen in rural Bengal. They can get medicines for a tenth of the price, blood tests for just Rs 100, and a hearty meal for Rs 10.
They trudge several kilometres on foot, often wading through knee-deep slush, not because treatment is almost free here, but because they get a touch of care. “We have not made it free because that would make them feel small,” explains Pijush Sarkar.
Knowing that qualified doctors will not live in such villages Amader Haspatal focused all its efforts towards building up a centre for teaching and training for Rural Medical Practitioners (RMP, we call them quacks). In the 12 month long Quack Training Program, Amader Haspatal was providing the training for village quacks on basic medical science and most important part of his program was to teach them what they should never do.
And to make the mission even more meaningful, the doctor couple counsels villagers on healthy food habit, rational medicine, bringing about a sweeping change in awareness in this backward region. They have started a coaching centre for the students from primary schools of near-by villages – they also provide them with meals after the class.
| Who We Are Foundation for Health Action (FHA) is a non-profit organisation (Trust) without any connection with any political party. The organisers come from different strata of the society, with various expertise with one common goal of social service Mr. S.S Dasbairagi, Deputy Director of Accounts, Finance Dept. Govt. of West Bengal (Trustee) Dr. Anup Sadhu,Head of Eco-Scan Centre, attached to Medical College, Calcutta (Trustee). Dr. Asit Chakrabarti,Retired Professor, Bidhan Chandra Agricultural University, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal (Trustee). Smt. Krishna Sarkar (Trustee) Prof. Pijus K. Sarkar is Managing Trustee Prof. Sarkar is also the Resident Physician of Amader Hospital (our Hospital). (http://infochangeindia.org/2006040243/Health/Changemaker/BODHI-Contuining-medical-education-for-healthcare-workers.html ) Active supporters and participants: Dr. Swapan Jana, a retired medical college teacher and a health activist for more than two decades. Dr. RL Munichakrabarti, Former Prof. and Head of Architectural Engineering, IIT, Khargapur Mr. Rambilash Behani, Tata Automobile Dealer, Malda. West Bengal . Mrs. Malati Behani, Social Activist, Malda, West Bengal. Dr. (Mrs) Subrata Bhadra, PhD, Retired Principal of College of Nursing , RG Kar Medical College , Calcutta . Mr. Madhusudan Dhar, Retired Civil Service Officer, West Bengal Government. Dr. (Mrs.) Sanjukta Das, Reader, PG Dept. of Psychology, Science College , Univ. of Calcutta Prof. MN Majumdar, Former Head of the Dept. of Chemistry & Dean, Faculty of Science, Kalyani University , West Bengal . More than one thousand supporters have donated (from Rs. one hundred to one hundred thousand) to FHA. স্বাস্থ্যকর্মী প্রশিক্ষণ Donation / Pledge for Project FHA medical publications Contact Us |
Amader Haspatal 