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GENESIS |
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Genesis
and Formation of Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Kankhal |
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It is difficult to believe but was a grave fact
that a hundred years ago, Haridwar, certainly one of the holiest
places in India, was completely lacking medical facilities. Many
pilgrims, monks and local people used to simply and silently
succumb to death once they fell ill. Because, there was no
doctor or hospital in this entire region! [Even now within the
radius of 100 kms, there is no hospital].
Swami Vivekananda,
having observed this pitiable situation during his visit,
resolved to pull every sick person from the jaws of death. After
his return from Parliament of Religions, Chicago, he soon sent
one of his disciples to Haridwar to serve the sick. The year was
1899 when this disciple set out and began an unprecedented and a
wonderful approach to treatment.
Everyday he goes out in search of a sick person with a bagful of
medicines. If patient’s condition is too serious, he carries him on his back to his hut and
nurtures him. He sponge-bathes the patient, feeds him, fans him,
carries his excreta out, cleans him, brings him to normalcy and
bids him good-bye. Another disciple joined him a couple of years
later.
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in-patient treatment sprang up like a deus ex machina, where
previously there was no doctor, no hospital and disease meant a
certain death. The founders’ altruistic approach of treatment
steadily went on to earn the confidence of locals and veneration
from luminaries like Mahatma Gandhiji, Sir J C Bose, Sister
Nivedata etc. who visited this centre. Slowly, the dried up
hopes of these simple people living at fringes of society,
turned fertile. Smiles returned and a renaissance has begun. |
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Growth and Expansional |
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A perennial river passes through all the
impenetrable clefts and covers all the impassable terrains.
Having no life of its own, it is emblematic of flowing
civilizations. A charitable institute is no different. Starting
from a single hut, this centre grew to 122 beds in eighties and
to 150 beds in this new century. It has now a well equipped
Laboratory, Sonography, I.C.U., Emergency Ward, Blood Bank,
Mobile Medical Unit besides ophthalmology, orthopedics, general
surgery, medicine, maternity etc.
The Sevashrama has completed 108 years of its services treating
all without making any distinction of caste, creed and
nationality. Its coverage of treatment has not only included
countless interior villages in the adjoining States like U.P.,
Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab but, of late, poor
brethren from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West
Bengal etc. are also coming.
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