THREE MONTHS ago, 67year-old Namdev Rajankar came from Sangampur, Buldhana to Mumbai to get his son Kishan, who is suffering from leukemia, treated.

Ever since, Rajankar, his wife and daughter-in-law have made the corridors of state-run JJ Hospital their home, cooking food on a makeshift earthen stove outside the hospital premises.

"I have forgotten what it is like to be home. I can't afford a house here so I sleep in the open with my daughter-inlaw and wife, in the garden or the corridor," said Rajankar.

While this is the plight of hundreds of other families, the JJ administration has some good news for them.

Next week on, a shelter on the hospitals premises, built by a local NGO, will provide free shelter, meals, drinking water and toilet facilities to nearly 200 patients' relatives.

"Everyday we get at least 120 fresh cases. Patients come from across the state often accompanied by their relatives. They are poor and don't always have relatives in the city, so they stay on the hospital premises, sleeping in corridors, parapets and gardens. We were only glad that someone wanted to help them," said the Hospital Dean Dr Pravin Shingare.

The shelter, which will be inaugurated on April 13, will also have a small kitchen for those who want to cook their own meals. The relatives will have to obtain a letter from the administration to avail of the facility.

"They will be given an identity card which will be checked by the security guard on entry. No random person will be allowed to stay as we have to ensure the safety of women," said Harakhchand Savla, founder-president of Jeevan Jyot Care Trust that has built the shelter at a project cost of Rs 12 lakh.

"We sleep in the open amidst mosquitoes and cockroaches and often end up falling ill ourselves. We are happy someone has spared us a thought," said Vitthal Temkar (42), a Sangli resident whose brother-in-law is admitted in hospital.

 

URL: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=03_04_2008_007_002&typ=0&pub=264