So far medical field is concerned, there have been a few Sikh organizations who have opened hospitals or paid attention to this aspect on charitable basis. Although, the famous Ranbaxy group founded by Bhai Mohan Singh has contributed considerably in the medical field and there are some others pharmaceutical industries also owned by the Sikhs, they have been mainly for commercial purposes. If some charity aspect is there, it can only be in the hospitals owned by the four prominent Sikh organizations refered to above. We have already made a reference to such medical institutions. We have also mentioned some hospitals privately owned by Sikh organizations and being run by them on charitable basis in some other chapters. So far, the hospital made by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee is concerned, the matter being disputed, its utility for the community has not yet been proved. Guru Harkishan Medical Trust was made by the former committee of DSGMC for the management of Bala Sahib Hospital. The matter was in the court. The lower court had considered the trust as illegal. But, the High Court in its Judgement dt. 23-05-2018 has reversed the order of the lower court and stated that a trust cannot be closed except under the provisions of the Trust Act. This Hospital was handed over to a Private Hospital, earlier to Manipal Hospital and then to B L Kapoor Hospital.
A few hospitals in Punjab are run by certain individuals/charitable Sikh organizations. For example, in Amritsar we have a hospital being run under the guidance of S. Dhanraj Singh. This hospital is situated at 104, Geen Avenue, Amritsar. It provides both medical consultation and pathology tests facilities on reasonable rates. Its contact numbers are 0183-2502729 and 0183-2503688. Similarly, we have a hospital Guru Nanak Mission Hospital at Jalandhar (already discussed in Chapter 3). It is note worthy that many big Gurdwaras in India as well as abroad provides medical facilities through dispensaries/hospitals. Some of them have Homoeopathic, Ayurvedic or Naturepathic dispensaries also. Physiotherapy centres have also been attached to many such dispensaries, wherein acupressure and acupuncture therapies are also included. We have already discussed such facilities in the chapters on Gurdwaras. To take one example here, the details regarding Guru Nanak Medical Centre at Secunderabad follow.
Guru Nanak Medical Centre at Secunderabad
This medical centre was started on 7 October, 2007 by Gurdwara Sahib, Secunderabad in collaboration with Guru Nanak Charitable Trust. S. Avtar Singh Makkar, then President of SGPC was present to inaugurate the centre. S. Baljit Singh Bagga, the President of the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee at Secunderabad and Convenor S. R.S. Saluja had told about the necessity of such a centre as it was demanded by the people of those areas after Gandhi General Hospital had moved from there to Musheerabad. Thus, this state-ofthe-art polyclinic and diagnostic centre was started to provide free and low cost medical treatment for the poor and needy people of all religion and community. Apart from day care, general medicines, surgery, eye, dental, orthopaedics, ENT, skin, homeopathy, X-RAY, CT-Scan, Colour Doppler, Sonography, 2D-Echo, TMT, PFT, ECG, EEG, Pathology, Hormone assays, Heath checks are done here. This is a complete medical care centre for all kinds of tests. Doctors related to all kinds of diseases are available here.
Dr. Rajender Singh is the specialist Pathologist and is the State General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Private Hospitals & Nursing Home Association. He is involved in several social initiatives amongst them being managing the Guru Nanak Medical Centre Secunderabad which provides free medical treatment for the general public. His is also Chairman of Saluja Multispecialty Hospital. The contact details of this medical centre are address Guru Nanak Medical Centre, Gurudwara Building, Near Railway Station, Secunderabad-500025, Phone : + 91 – 40 – 27701556, Email : drjogindersingh@gmail.com
ASHIRWAD
The North India Cerebral Palsy Association
This organization, registered under societies act of 1860 and various other relevant acts relating to Cerebral Palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities, was started in 1999 with a view to make a difference in the lives of children affected by developmental disabilities like Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation (Down’s Syndrome), Autism & Multiple Disabilities. The organization’s prestigious project in this regard, named as ASHIRWAD has so far brought a difference to the lifes of more than 750 children as well as their families. The organization has a vision of an inclusive society which accepts and provides equal opportunities to persons with Disabilities (PWD). Its mission is to make Ashirwad a one stop referral centre for all issues pertaining to disability. To provide opportunities to empower the persons with Disabilities (PWD) & their families to improve their quality of life, to secure their right to inclusive education and to include them in main stream society.
Over the last ten years there has been a shift from the medical to the social model of understanding disability. By observing and understanding this paradigm shift in the field of disability, this organisation has been able to integrate new perspectives into their work. Their centre provides Rehabilitation services which include occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech therapy to children with high support needs. They also provide special education facilities. Ashirwad functions as a bridge resource centre, for the children with disabilities (mild cases), to include them in mainstream school. They act as tutorial centre for students studying through NIOS. They also provide Mobility, orthotic, postural aids and therapy equipments for use at the centre and home. The organisation has created a reliable, vibrant, trusted alliance by networking with other NGOs working for PWD at district, state & national level. They also work in collaboration with National Trust (New Delhi), Ministry Of Social Justice & Empowerment.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Punjab
Their support system includes Lions Club, Rotary Club and Volunteers. The board of director headed by Dr. A. S. Dua consists other reputed doctor, namely S. Gurpreet Singh Mighlani, Dr. R. S. Sodhi, Dr. Neelam Sodhi, S. Davinder Pal Singh Rekhi, Mrs. Harjeet Rekhi, G. S. Rekhi, Mrs. Daisy Pruthi, Dr. Dharminder Singh and Mrs. Maninder Kaur. The contact details of the organisation are address is Near L.I.C. Building, opp. M.G.M. Public School, Phase-l Dugri, Ludhiana, email is ashirwadnicpa@gmail.com and contact number is 2490105.
UK Sikh Doctors Association
This association of UK Sikh medical and dental doctors is a charitable organization which was established in 1984 with a view to advance the education of the public and members of the community in the means of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sickness and diseases, and in such other medically related matters, charitable in nature as the trustees in their absolute discretion shall determine. This organization organized various health checks camps at Gurdwaras and other places wherein the volunteers educate the attending public on various aspects of health. For example in one such camp organized at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara cross road, conventry public were educated on maintaining good cardio vascular health and the people were checked for their body mass index, blood pressure and blood sugar.
British Sikh Doctors Organisation
Dr. Gagandeep Singh Alag founded this organisation in 2010. It was his dream right from his school days to do something for his community. Having firm faith in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, he believed that such an organisation could provide health care for everyone. Thus, this organisation has been holding camps, health advice screening for common medical and dental illness and training Doctors to do such activities for the welfare of the public. They organize several other functions also for fund raising for charitable purposes. Dr. Gagandeep Singh said our simple screening program has been done all over the UK and we have found many people who are unwell and were not conscious of their illness. We not only made them aware, but also helped them in their cure. For example in August 2015, this organization delivered 10000 free health checks. More than 50 meetings were held at the community centres by about 150 doctor and medical students to conduct such health checks. Many people have helped the organization by raising funds for them. For example S. Rajpal Singh ran Barlin Marathon for this purpose. Apart from Dr. Gagandeep Singh, the team of the organization consists of many medical and dental Doctors. Some of them represent premier medical institutions. For example Dr. Navdeep Singh Alg represents Emperor University, Sirpreet Kaur Somal represent Brighton and Susses Medical School, Nav Singh Sekhon represents Leeds University, Rashpal Kaur Ghataoura is from Peninsula Medical and Dentistry, University College London is a represented by S. Resham Singh Matharu, Simran Chaudhry represents King Dental School and Jasneet Singh Gulati is the representative of University of Sheffield. The board also has a number of other health care professionals who support BSDO’s cause to help all the humanity and support the education of future doctors. The senior doctors who are role models in their respective fields are also on their ‘Board of Senior Health Care Professionals’. They include a renowned ophthalmologist and President of the Royal College of Ophthalmology UK, Nottingham. For any kind of help or screen camps, the organization can be approached on e-mail: info@britishsikhdocs.com.
Sikh Welfare Society, London
It was on 18th April 2008 that some friends launched an organisation by holding a function at Carlton House, 501, High Road, Ilford, Essex, IG11TL. This organisation came to be known as Sikh Welfare Society. An executive committee comprising of 25 members was constituted to promote the following aims and objects of the society.
To promote the physical health of the Public by providing Medical help i.e. Eye camp, Medical camps and Cancer awareness/Diagnostic camps in the rural parts of India.
To support charitable causes by donating funds to established and registered charities in UK.
To advance the education of the Public by creating awareness and knowledge about the Sikh religion especially among young Sikhs.
It was also agreed by the members of the executive committee that all funding of the camps and any other form of charitable work would be self funding by the members. All funds collected would be spent on the charity work and any travel expenses included by members attending the medical camps in India would be paid by the members themselves.
Since then the society has undertaken many a medical camps in India. The last camp was held on 10th March 2018 at a village Kalota in Anandpur Sahib. In this mega camp free medical checkups for eyes, cancer and skin diseases were conducted by world famous surgeon Dr. Balbir Singh Bhora and his team. As per the media reports, more than 5000 patients availed of the camp. In some cases free medicine is also distributed. Many dignities including Jathedar, Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Singh Sahib Gyani Raghubir Singh were present on this occasion. The camp organiser S. Gurdeep Sing Sandhu informed that Sikh Welfare Society, London is organising 5 camps in different cities of Punjab every year. These camps are organized with the cooperation of the people and the concerned authorities. S. Harjinder Singh Johal and. S. Tarsem Singh are the chairman and vice chairman of this organisation. There are five trusties, namely Dr. Chanan Singh Sidhu, S. Surjeet Singh Toot, S. Surinderpal Singh Waraich, S. Boota Singh Nijjer and S. Lahamber Singh Lidhar.
