Bijo Francis

L ocated near Howrah's famous attraction Belur Math on the banks of river Ganges in West Bengal, a small old house stands among desolated factories in an industrial district, which was once bustling with hundreds of steel rolling mills under the former British colonial rule. Although the house is small, the mission it advocates and the contribution it has made is unique in India. Tens of thousands of local people, mainly workers and the poor, have been treated in this house-the Sramajibi Hospital -for free or at a minimal cost for the past 10 years.

The Sramajibi Hospital was founded by workers of the now defunct Indo-Japan Steel Ltd. (IJSL), with the help of a group of volunteer doctors and the support of the local community. The hospital is a people's initiative in it truest sense. Even all the beds, operation tables and various kinds of instruments and furniture are made by the workers. Doctors and paramedics are working round the clock to take care of hundreds of patients at the
hospital's inpatient and outpatient units. 

Despite its shortage of resources, the hospital offers help to those people who were evicted from their homes in Bellilious Park by the authorities last year and are now living in the Belgachhia dump. It organises a weekly medical checkup camp at the settlement to treat the residents. Many of the people there suffer from malnutrition and other diseases due to poverty and the unhygienic surroundings.

A People's Initiative

This unique hospital was evolved from a health care initiative started by workers of the IJSL and some young doctors in 1983. The project began with an outpatient unit and different health awareness programmes for the workers and the local people. The activities gained momentum and the demand for health services rose. In 1989, the clinic moved to the premises of the National Iron & Steel Co. (NISCO) with the help of the workers'
union of that company. The project expanded with an X-ray and biochemistry unit and a small operation theatre for minor surgeries. An indoor unit was also set up to treat patients of acute illness. The fledgling hospital at NISCO, however, ceased functioning by December 1993.

Attempts were made to restart the hospital. After putting intense pressure on the IJSL management, the workers were finally allowed to run the hospital in an old dilapidated building within a factory in February 1994. The workers then transformed the building into a small but well planned and optimally equipped hospital. The workers not only raised funds for the renovation and other expenses but also helped cutting the costs by making different necessary appliances and furniture, including operation tables, orthopaedic tables and the lighting system, themselves. The Sramajibi Hospital was officially opened on March 1, 1994.

As the steel industry was hit by an unfavourable business environment due to problems of a non-competitive market, lack of raw materials and decline in profits, a property boom increasing the value of real estate at the time prompted the IJSL management to close down the factory and
lay off the workers. 

Despite that, the hospital has survived and continued to flourish with the joint efforts of the retrenched workers, local people and the medical staff.

The conveniences are minimal within the hospital, not to the patients but for the staff. The retiring room for senior surgeons and the rest of the staff has just a bench. Doctors and paramedics travel on a rundown jeep when they need to conduct medical camps elsewhere. The paramedics and the former workers of the locked out steel mills trained by experienced doctors keep working in their spare time, such as making acupuncture needles, to earn extra income for the hospital. The treatment in the hospital is free in most cases. In other cases where the patients can pay the charges are low. There is provision for subsidies to the patients from the poorer sectors and workers of closed industries. The hospital is also giving free medical assistance for war and torture victims. 

To date, the general outpatient unit has treated more than 50,000 patients. More than 85,000 patients have been treated in the specialist outpatient units of all major branches including surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology and obstetrics, paediatrics, eye, and ear, nose and throat medicine. More than 7,000 operations have been conducted, of which 50 per cent was done free of charge. Some complicated operations such as transplantation of loop of intestine, cancer surgery, removal of big tumors in the uterus, different reconstructive surgery over cleft lip and palate as well as deform knees and ankle joints were also performed. The hospital has been regularly giving free blood transfusion and other requisite treatment to 15 thalasemic children for the past few years. The hospital now runs an early cancer detection centre under the guidance of Dr Subir Ganguly, head of the oncology department in the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. The Sramajibi Hospital has also begun free diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis patients under the guideline of the quality Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme. The hospital believes that people from the low-income group should be able to benefit from the advantages of all types of advanced medical technology and treatment according to their needs.

Under Attack 

In spite of its good work and popularity in the area, the Sramajibi Hospital has been attacked repeatedly by land grabbers in connivance with police and workers of the ruling political party. On April 26, 1997 a huge contingent of police and land grabbers with their hired hooligans raid the hospital. They threw out patients from the orthopaedics ward, demolished the southern part of the hospital, ransacked the hospital and manhandled doctors and female health workers. Kirity Roy, a human rights activist with Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), filed a public interest litigation at the High Court in Calcutta to seek redress. Although the court found that the hospital was under attack, it referred the matter to the West Bengal
Human Rights Commission for seeking intervention into human rights violations. 

The rights commission submitted its report on December 14, 1998, stating the wrongdoing on the part of the police, who had favoured the land grabbers illegally. The commission recommended an interim compensation to the hospital. But the hospital has yet to receive anything. 

The hospital was again under attack on January 24, 1999. This time land grabbers vandalised the hospital together with workers of the ruling communist party. The police did not take any action. The intruders even hoisted their party flag at the hospital to convert the premises into
their party office. The attack prompted a debate at the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Many denounced the heinous attack and aired their ill will against the party sponsored hooliganism. Since then, attempts to attack the hospital have ceased. But it is still believed that the lust for greed
might lead to more attacks on the hospital in the future. 

Health Rights Protection

Despite the difficulties and harassments, the Sramajibi Hospital has asserted itself as an alternative and a viable people's initiative to cater better health services for the community, especially the low-income group, thanks to the participation of the people and their perseverance in bringing
about the project. It offers a hope for the people in the dismal health scenario of West Bengal, where public health care services are inadequate and poor in quality on one hand and the private-run nursing homes and other profit-making organisations have converted health into an expensive commodity on the other. The story of the Sramajibi Hospital demonstrates that given the existing situation in India where exploitation and
state sponsored torture is a daily tale, people themselves are the strongest and ultimate resort to uphold and preserve their own rights.