Sulabh International proposes to set up night shelters at WB Govt run hospitals

Joy Roy Choudhury - Kolkata

Problem of lack of proper space for night-stay faced by the families of patients recuperating in West Bengal Government run hospitals may come to an end with the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation’s (SISSO) proposal of constructing night shelters and toilet complexes at all the major hospitals in Kolkata.

The proposal, submitted to the State’s Health & Family Welfare Department, offers to set nigh shelters, with both sitting as well as sleeping facilities, along with toilet complexes at NRS Medical College & Hospital, SSKM Hospital, Calcutta Medical College & Hospital, National Medical College & Hospital and RG Kar Medical College & Hospital. Sulabh is also working on a similar project for Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI). The centre has sanctioned the project and work is expected to start soon.

To save cost of construction and land, night shelters would be built on the first floor of the toilet block. People would have to pay a minimal sum of Rs 5 a day for booking a ‘tilted’ seat, Rs 20 for beds with bed roles and Rs 200 for a double-bed room. However, there would only be one or two double bed rooms in each complex. Sulabh will pay-back the loan amount from the income generated through the use of the ‘pay and use’ toilets and night-shelter facilities.

Says Ajit Thakur, SISSO’s honorary chairman, West Bengal, “We would require Rs. 15-16 lakh to build one night and toilet shelter. But we have not asked for money from the State Government. Sulabh would fund these projects through ‘soft’ loans from Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO).”

Sulabh has also proposed to the State Government to permit it to have the advertisement rights so that a portion of the expenditure incurred on maintenance can be realised by putting up billboards and hoardings in these complexes. “This project is the first of its kind for Sulabh. If successful, this would serve as a model for similar projects all over Bengal,” added Thakur.

Sulabh has also taken it upon itself to maintain the complexes for 30 years. As per the proposal, the Government will have to provide the land, water and electricity, free of cost for the complex.

Founded by Padma Bhushan recipient Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, Sulabh International is the largest nationally and internationally recognised pan-India social service organisation with 50,000 volunteers on the rolls who work to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, health and hygiene, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education, training and awareness campaign.