Nana Palkar Smruti Samiti provides free accommodation and food to poor patients from out of Mumbai, Alekh Angre reports
Patients
are given the facilities on obtaining a certificate either from a
member of the RSS or the medical social worker of the hospital from
where the patient has been referred. “Since patients come from different
states, a valid medical/reference certificate is essential. It is a
proof that the patient is a genuine one,” explains Mr Joshi. The
organisation provides free ambulance service to the patients to take
them to hospitals like Tata Memorial, KEM and Sion Hospital and charges
Rs5 each to the patient’s attendees.
Mumbai with its large hospitals, like Tata Memorial and KEM (King
Edward Memorial) providing affordable treatment for critical diseases
like cancer, attracts thousands of patients from all over the country.
However, accommodation for the duration of hospitalisation for patients
and the accompanying family members has been a major problem. It’s not
unusual to see scores of people sleeping and cooking in the hospital
premises or on pavements outside.
The situation was the same four decades ago. Nana Palkar Smruti Samiti
(NPSS), founded in 1968, sought to bridge this gap. It provides free
accommodation and food to the patients and their two attendees as well
as transportation to hospitals.
NPSS was founded in the memory of late Nanasaheb Palkar, writer, orator
and a well-known pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),
who was also a social crusader with keen interest in patient-care. NPSS
started with one room in Parel (mid-town Mumbai). The services of the
organisation gained popularity by word of mouth and more patients
started seeking the help of NPSS. So, a plot of land was granted by the
then municipal commissioner.
In 1997, NPSS got approval to build a 10-storey structure. The building
is known as Rugna Seva Sadan. It can accommodate 76 patients and 152
accompanying attendees. At times, there are patients who can afford
nominal fees. For them, NPSS charges Rs50 per day for monthly
accommodation and Rs25 per meal. “With the help of donations from the
public, we strive to give accommodation and other facilities to people
who are poor and traumatised by the illness,” says AM Joshi, former
secretary and trustee of NPSS.
Patients
are given the facilities on obtaining a certificate either from a
member of the RSS or the medical social worker of the hospital from
where the patient has been referred. “Since patients come from different
states, a valid medical/reference certificate is essential. It is a
proof that the patient is a genuine one,” explains Mr Joshi. The
organisation provides free ambulance service to the patients to take
them to hospitals like Tata Memorial, KEM and Sion Hospital and charges
Rs5 each to the patient’s attendees.
Volunteers of NPSS distribute
fruits to TB patients at Sewri Hospital every Thursday. “Since most
patients are abandoned, giving them fruits and interacting with them
cheers them up. We also distribute free breakfast to 200 children
admitted at Wadia hospital everyday.”
NPSS also offers many other facilities. In 2004, NPSS started a
dialysis centre with a nominal charge of Rs350. It has 12 haemodialysis
machines treating 36 patients a day. Additionally, it also runs a
low-cost pathological laboratory and provides free medicine and
counselling to TB (tuberculosis) patients, among others. These services
are free for poor patients; for others, a nominal fee is charged. NPSS
has lithotripsy centres in Matunga (Mumbai) and Aurangabad
(Maharashtra), providing treatment at Rs3,500. “The costs of such
treatments are high, making it unaffordable for many. So we provide such
services at nominal cost,” says Mr Joshi. NPSS gives financial
assistance to poor patients undergoing treatment; for this, its monthly
budget is Rs1.5 lakh. “The medical social worker of a particular
hospital after verifying that the patient genuinely needs financial aid,
issues a letter to him/her. Once we receive such a letter, we help the
patient,” says Mr Joshi.
NPSS provides and arranges for blood donor registry and blood donation
camps every year for major hospitals. It also has a branch in Borivali,
where doctors provide medical care at a nominal rate. It hires out
equipment like walkers, wheelchairs and water beds on low rent. You can
donate to NPSS by way of money, in kind or volunteer your services. All
donations are tax exempt under Section 80 (G) of the Income-Tax Act.
NANA PALKAR SMRUTI SAMITI
158, Rugna Seva
Sadan Marg
Dr Babasaheb
Ambedkar Road
Parel, Mumbai 400 012
Tel: 2416 4890/
2417 2167
info@npss.org
http://npss.org
About Nana Palkar Smruti Samiti:
Nana Palkar Smruti Samiti, established in 1968, is a Non-Governmental Orgranization (NGO) dedicated to Rugna-Seva .
The Samiti has constructed a ten-storied building to provide
accommodation to such patients. The Sadan has accommodation to provide
for about 55 patients with two attendants each in self-contained rooms. A
canteen supplies food, snacks etc at subsidized rates to the inmates.
Regular prayers are held on the ground floor at 7.00 p.m. every day.
Inmates feel a very homely atmosphere during their stay in the Sadan.
The road in front of the Sadan off. Dr. Ambedkar Roads has been renamed
as Rugna Seva Sadan Marg by Mahanagarpalika in April 2000
About Late Narayan Hari Palkar
Narayan Hari Alias Nana Palkar was a whole life Pracharak of Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh and also an accomplished poet and writer. He had keen
interest in tending the sick and alleviating their sufferings. After his
death in March, 1967, Nana Palkar Smruti Samiti was established on
1.3.1968. The Samiti has ‘Rugna Seva is Ishwar Seva’ as its motto and
started work by helping the poor and needy patients coming to Mumbai for
medical treatment.
No comments:
Post a Comment