SHILLONG: Bharat Sevasram Sangha (BSS) and Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) in the city are doing their bit to take healthcare service to the poorest.
Both BSS and RKM run well-equipped pathologies and charge up to only 50 per cent less than private clinics and hospitals.
BSS has a technician and a pathologist. The ashram on Jail Road also has homoeopathy and allopathy clinics, with two regular doctors, a humble medicine shop and a physiotherapy unit.
“Earlier, the timing was 8am-2pm but with all the restrictions now, the dispensary starts at 9.30am. Here, one has to pay Rs 20 for seeing a doctor and medicines are free,” said Swami Purnobratananda of BSS.
The RKM dispensary at Laitumkhrah started in 1950 and the foundation stone was laid by Bishnuram Medhi, the then chief minister of undivided Assam. At present, the dispensary has about 20 doctors, some of whom are retired medical officials. In the post-lockdown situation, the number has come down to about 16.
The clinic, which starts at 8 am till 11.30am, is getting about 150 patients every day as compared to the pre-COVID period when the numbers would run up to 500. Here too, a patient has to pay Rs 20.
In the pathology, the cost for running medical tests is also low and “free for those living in abject poverty”, said secretary Swami Sarvabhutananda.
Both RKM and BSS get referral cases from NEIGRIHMS.
The RKM also has mobile dispensaries which run four days a week and cater to about 70 villages. “Many people know the dispensary simply as Ramakrishna and not RKM dispensary. I have seen this only in Shillong,” said Swami Sarvabhutananda, who came to the hill city three years ago.
The dispensaries are a lifeline for both the urban and rural poor. Swami Divyalokananda, who is in-charge of the RKM dispensary, said many people came to request him to open the clinic “but I told them that we were helpless”.