Starting of Parivaar Vivekananda Arogya Kutir – A Multi-speciality Clinic serving the underprivileged

We are delighted to announce the starting of a multi specialty clinic serving the underprivileged rural community in District 24 Parganas (South), West Bengal. The medical centre named as Parivaar Vivekananda Arogya Kutir (PVAK) was inaugurated on 12th January, the birthday of Swami Vivekananda. The person instrumental in setting this up is my close friend and brother for the last 17 years, Mamoon Akhtar, the founder of Samaritan Help Mission (SHM), Howrah. Mamoonbhai’s organisation SHM has been successfully running such a medical centre at significant scale serving the population of Tikiyapara. In December Mamoon bhai and I deliberated over long hours about how we can use existing Parivaar Bengal infrastructure for a similar facility in our area. We decided to convert Parivaar administrative and village welfare block to PVAK and shifted the administrative and village welfare block which did not need that much infrastructure to another building. The clinic, inaugurated by Mamoonbhai, is at present, operating thrice a week and will soon provide daily services with departments like paediatrics, general medicine, gynaecology and pathology. It has got an overwhelmingly positive response from the poor local communities who had to often visit private doctors in Kolkata city spending inordinately high sums of money. This has added a new dimension and beginning of a new chapter for Parivaar’s work in West Bengal. There is an OPD ticket of Rs 10, and in addition to consultation, medication for 3-4 days is also provided to the patients. Soon mobile dispensaries covering a much bigger area. This has added a new dimension in work of Parivaar Bengal and heralded Parivaar’s operations in a new domain. PS: Mamoonbhai’s SHM is doing sterling work in Tikiapara and Bankra in Howrah. He runs multiple projects like schools, livelihood programs for women, clinics, financial inclusion progams etc. SHM’s work can serve as a model for working in low-income neighbourhoods / slums in all urban areas in India. I had visited Mamoonbhai first when he ran a tution centre in 2 rooms belonging to his family in Tikiapara way back in 2004. Our journeys have been almost parallel, both starting at the same time. Two of us are united by a bond, difficult to be described here. Everytime I visit Tikiapara I come amazed and proud of my brother.