Providing healthcare at the doorstep remains the leitmotif of the Utkal Alumina’s CSR activities. Ask Hari Singh, 60, from Hadiguda village of Rayagada district, who used to frequently suffer from dyspepsia, flatulence and an upset stomach. All this had taken a heavy toll on his health. last August, things took a serious turn and his condition worsened. Dejected, he threw up his hands, and didn’t go for any medical advice.
But that was until the Utkal Alumina’s Mobile Health Units (MHUs) arrived on the scene. On a regular visit to his village, one of the members of the medical team spotted Hari in a very frail state sitting at a corner of his home.The team of doctors from Utkal Alumina’s MHU immediately swung into action. He was diagnosed with IBS (Intermittent Bowel Syndrome) and given some medicine to reduce his pain. That was not all. He was advised to visit the company’s Health Centre at Nuapada.
The results are evident. One thing led to another, and Hari Singh soon found himself firmly on the road to recovery. Now, he is physically much fitter. He says, “I got a new lease of life only due to Utkal Alumina’s prompt intervention. We now spend much less time in going to and coming from the hospital.”In fact, approximately, 1,00,000 people from the adjoining 48 villages of Kasipur swear by the Utkal Alumina’s healthcare efforts.
President & Unit Head of Utkal Alumina, Vijay Sapra says, “Through our MHUs, the Health Care Centre and the recent addition of a homeopathic dispensary, we have been providing the best possible health care services to people, and in days to come, we shall accelerate the pace of these initiatives. The company is constructing a 50-bed, full-fledged multispecialty hospital at its Oshapada residential complex, which will be operational in a year.”
The district administration, on its part, has taken a very positive view of these health initiatives. The Rayagada Chief District Medical Officer acknowledges, “The poor and underprivileged villagers in remote locations of the plant periphery have got access to quality health care services because of the company.”
Under the company’s Health Care at Doorsteps programme (Mobile Health Units), two mobile health units, with a doctor and a paramedical staff each tour peripheral villages at a fixed time on a given day. For instance, 33 villages in T Rampur block of Kalahandi district and 15 in Kashipur block of Rayagada district are covered under this programme. A total 28,141 patients received treatment through these MHUs in 2013-14.
Besides, the Utkal Alumina’s Health Centre at Nuapada, with three full-time competent and experienced doctors and seven paramedical staff, has facilities like a sophisticated pathological laboratory, auto analyser and audio-metric equipment, all catering to the medical requirements of people staying around the plant. The Health Centre remains open 24 X 7. It rendered service to 74,388 patients in 2013-14.