In Kharagpur, free treatment finds a new platform for underprivileged

Some professionals - from engineers to doctors, and from government servants to dentists - have come together to start a free medical camp, on what is one of third longest railway platforms in Asia

It’s a Sunday morning, but Kharagpur Junction is bustling. The usual rush of office-goers is absent, but the urgency is palpable among passengers: weekday or not they have to reach their destinations. On time. 

Commotion on railway stations as busy as the one in Kharagpur is common, but something looks amiss on platform number 2, where a crowd starts gathering. Ajit Das, a Kharagpur resident, on his way to Howrah, had complained of chest pain and almost collapsed. As fellow passengers insist that he return home, Das, 50, says he has urgent work. 

People start shooting videos of the incident as a young man emerges from the group and asks Das to come with him. The crowd disperses. The man takes Das to one side of the platform, where a group of doctors is sitting. They tell Das that he might be suffering from heart blockage and give him first-aid. Eventually, Das leaves for Kolkata, with the promise that he will undergo some tests on his return. 

Some professionals — from engineers to doctors, and from government servants to dentists — have come together to start a free medical camp, on what is one of the third longest railway platforms in Asia. The group, ‘Born 2 help’, which came into being in 2016, and now regularly conducts medical camps, awareness campaigns, and art and craft sessions for slum children in different parts of the country, including Kharagpur, Jamshedpur, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, started the camp at Kharagpur on July 14 this year. 

Medical camp being held at Kharagpur

“We chose to start the medical camp at the station as there are many slums nearby. It is not always possible to visit each slum, but as the word about the camp spread, people started flocking in large numbers. Many workers and sweepers at the railway station visit us too,” says Barun Paul, an engineer, and founder of the “volunteer-based group”. 

A seven-year-old boy is standing at the camp — christened ‘Arogya’ — and Paul politely scolds him, after doctors say something. The medics have found that he consumes dendrite, because of which he has developed a severe whooping cough. 

Dr Saikat Sheet, an oncologist, and a faculty at Midnapore Medical College, tells Business Standard that addiction to substances is common among slum children in the area. “We can find this out from the smell in the mouth. Because some of the kids are so young, they cannot lie about their habits, and they get caught. At such a young age, such addiction can be life-threatening,” he says. 

Dr Depayan Bishal and Dr Pritha Chaudhuri, a dentist, tend to the kid and give him medicines, before Puja Singh, 11, the boy’s neighbour, takes him home. 

“We do not give free medicines to everyone. There are passengers, like Das, who come to us in cases of emergency. In most cases, we give them advice and ask them to undergo tests and buy medicines from outside. But these children and some people from the slums are very poor. They would never undergo any test, or buy pills. So, we give them medicines, otherwise this camp will have no meaning,” says 32-year-old Sheet.

Medical camp being held at Kharagpur

Paul clarifies that ‘Born 2 help’ is not an NGO, and it does not receive funds. “We have been asking people on various platforms to donate medicines. Our Facebook page has a large number of followers. We are thankful that many people have come forward to help us,” Paul says. 

But there were roadblocks. “It was not easy to set up everything. We needed volunteers to join us, and required clearances from the authorities (in this case, the Indian Railways). From adopting the extremely backward Belajhuri in Jhargram — a former Maoist hotbed — to addressing hooch addiction in many villages in the hinterlands, we have managed to cover some distance,” Paul says. 

Kharagpur Station Director Sonali Sahoo says that the group obtained permission to conduct the camp on the platform from the commercial department. “They hold it (the camp) from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm on second and fourth Sundays each month, and 50-70 people come here for treatment each day. There were no objections, since this was for a noble cause,” Sahoo says. 

Around 12.30 pm, as they wrap up the camp, volunteers — most of whom work six days a week — reflect on their “holiday”. “We work five to six days a week, but this is our favourite day. A healthy smile on the faces of these children is all we can ask for. It is worth the effort,” Paul smiles.