Sambalpur: Pay Re 1 and get yourself treated by this doctor. Sounds unbelievable! But this is true.
Dr. Shankar Ramchandani, who works as assistant professor at VIMSAR in Sambalpur district’s Burla town, treats patients at his rented accommodation. His fee is as low as Re 1. His wife, Dr. Sikha Ramchandani, who is an oral surgeon, also treats patients.
In fact, they started their clinic Friday. The philanthropic doctor couple had 33 patients on the first day. Of them, they attended to four free of cost.
When asked about the reason behind launching such a service, he said, “I had a long-cherished desire to treat poor, helpless patients free of cost at my residence after my normal duty hours at the hospital. Now that my desire has been fulfilled, I am happy.”
“I still remember how the desire to offer free service to the needy ones grew on me. It was my mother who had been asking me to deliver free service to the people in need when I would become a doctor,” he added.
Regarding him charging Re 1 from patients, he said, “There should be remuneration for each and every service. If a service is provided without remuneration, the receiver of the service tends to regard the service as valueless. So Re 1 has been fixed as our fee. In coming days, I will also bear the cost of some tests of poor patients.”
The clinic opens from 7:30 am to 8:30 am. Later, the clinic’s duration will be extended, he informed.
Not for nothing is a doctor referred second to God on this earth.
