The founder of Odisha’s One Rupee Clinic, Dr Ramchandani in a talk said, “Saw how people struggled to get medical aid amid COVID crisis & I wanted to help beyond my duty hour. I charge Rs. 1 so they don’t feel they’re availing free service.”
“I’m also from a modest family and it was always within me that someday I will do something for the underprivileged and poor patients, but my work responsibilities as senior residents did not allow me to do private practice,” said 38 years old Dr. Shankar Ramchandani.
He further said, “Hence, I could not start the One Rupee Clinic. But lately, I got promoted as an assistant professor, now I am allowed to follow my philanthropic dream for poor and underprivileged after my duty hours.”
One Rupee Clinic
The clinic, which has been set up at the Kachha Market area in Burla Sambalpur city remains open from 7 AM to 8 AM and 6 PM to 7 PM to serve the poor, underprivileged, physically challenged people, elderly people, and the people who do not have access to proper medical care.
Dr Ramchandani calls himself a ‘doctor of the masses and not the classes.’ Long queues of patients at the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research had motivated him to open the clinic, he says.
“I have seen elderly people and people with disabilities waiting for hours for consultation with doctors in OPD. They don’t need to wait for hours and suffer at the hospital. They can come to my clinic and get a consultation at Rupee 1 only,” said Dr Shankar Ramchandani, as quoted by PTI.
Dr. Shankar Ramchandani joined VIMSAR as a senior resident and got promoted to an assistant professor. Dr. Shankar Ramchandani and his wife Sikha Ramchandani are quite popular in Burla, Sambalpur city, and near regions for their humanitarian activities.
Duo made headlines in 2019 when Dr. Shankar Ramchandani was seen carrying a leprosy patient on his shoulders.
On asking about his other philanthropic desires, he said that he is working on many such ideas and will inform the media at right time.
In the current age of pandemic and hate, when we are blind and feeding our materialistic desire, someone but a human comes and stands high for other humans without asking for something in return, making the very humanity live.
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