Sambalpur, 14/2 (AO Bureau)A doctor has opened a ‘one rupee’ clinic in Odisha’s Sambalpur district to provide treatment to the poor and the underprivileged. Shankar Ramchandani, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine of ‘Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research’ (VIMSAR), has opened this clinic in the town of Burla, where patients will have to pay only one rupee fee for the treatment.
Ramchandani (38) said that he was long desirous of providing free treatment to the poor and underprivileged and this clinic is a step towards fulfilling this desire. The doctor said, ‘I started working as a Senior Resident at Vimsar and Senior Residents are not allowed to provide treatment in private clinics, so I could not start a’ one rupee ‘clinic at that time. Recently I was promoted to the post of assistant professor and as an assistant professor I am allowed to work in private clinics after working hours, so I have started my own clinic now in a rented house. ‘
Asked why he takes one rupee, Ramchandani said, “I take one rupee from the poor and the deprived, because I don’t want them to feel that they are taking service for free.” They should feel that they have given some amount for their treatment. ”This clinic will be open from 7 am to 8 am in the raw market area of Burla and from 6 pm to 7 pm.
Ramchandani said that his wife Shikha Ramchandani is a dentist and she is also helping him. The clinic was inaugurated on Friday and on the first day 33 patients visited their clinic. Ramchandani, who came into the limelight in 2019 for lifting a leprosy patient in his lap and taking him to his home, said, ‘My late father Brahmanand Ramchandani had asked me to open a nursing home, but made a big investment for it.