Padma Shri Dr Arunoday Mondal, a 70-year-old physician, travels 160 km to Sundarbans each weekend to run his free clinic ‘Sujan’. He has been treating over 12,000 sufferers yearly for the previous 23 years.

Each Saturday, Dr Arunoday Mondal wakes up earlier than dawn and prepares himself for an extended journey to supply medical help. From Kolkata, the 70-year-old physician takes a prepare, auto, boat and bike, travelling greater than 160 km to a distant space of Hingalganj in Sundarbans, to serve those that can’t entry medical care.

He has been operating a free medical service centre referred to as Sujan right here since 2000.

Rising up in Chandrakhali Panchayat space of Hingalganj, Dr Mondal noticed from shut quarters simply how troublesome it was for the residents to entry a health care provider or medicines. He noticed individuals die from snakebites and moms die throughout childbirth as a result of they couldn’t attain a great medical facility in time.

Poor roads and dangerous connectivity make it robust even immediately for these residents to entry care on time, which is why Dr Mondal’s Sujan is a blessing, as Authorities services simply don’t minimize it.

Impressed by his grandfather, a homoeopathic physician, who would deal with sufferers without spending a dime, Dr Mondal determined to comply with in his footsteps. He accomplished his MBBS in Kolkata and labored at a kids’s hospital for a number of years, put up which he arrange his personal follow in 1980.

However a voice in the back of his thoughts urged him to do one thing for the underprivileged in Sundarbans. He then began consulting sufferers without spending a dime at his home in Hingalganj, however in two years, the area didn’t suffice, which prompted him to arrange Sujan, a two-storey centre.

The centre has eight medical employees who’re current all through the week for assist. They conduct pathological exams, sonographies and CT scans. There may be additionally a physiotherapy centre for the disabled and paralysed.

Dr Mondal was conferred with the Padma Shri in 2020 for his outstanding work. What actually issues to him although, is the individuals’s belief and hope.

“The true honour is the love I get from individuals and their respect. That makes me extra proud,” he says.

Edited by Pranita Bhat