NGO sets up temporary mini-hospital at Singhu border

By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India], January 9 : An NGO has set up a four-bedded makeshift hospital at the Singhu border, near the main stage to cater to the ailments of farmers protesting at the site.
Life Care Foundation, an NGO from Punjab's Dera Bassi, set up a 24-hour emergency hospital which is equipped with ECG machines, catheters, oxygen cylinders and other medical equipment.
"From November 13, we started medicine service at Singhu border but we never expected this protest to stretch and so to cater to the need of the farmers. We started blood test and sugar test facilities where we took sample test of old farmers who were having prior ailments," Avatar Singh from Dera Bassi in Punjab, the person who started this initiative told ANI here.
"Earlier, many patients were taken to Sonipat which made it difficult for farmers so we decided to arrange one mini-hospital which is waterproof," he added.
Singh plans to expand the facility in the next couple of days by increasing the bed count from four to eight.
The mini-hospital has four pharmacists hailing from Punjab and three doctors who are providing their services round the clock at the Singhu border.
Talking about the incoming patients, Dr Ranjeet Singh from Punjab's Hoshiarpur said, "We are treating all the medical emergencies like gastrointestinal cases, chest infection cases, cardiology-related ailments as well. Those patients who can be stabilised are kept here but if their condition is serious then we refer them to the higher institute."
Ranjeet further added that he is a doctor by profession but his roots lie in agriculture as his father is also a farmer.
"I used to see videos about the protest and realised that not many doctors are here at the site and after that, I planned to come to Singhu. By profession, I am a doctor but my roots lie in agriculture as my father is also a farmer. There was a pain when I saw the condition. As we know, doctor's duty is to do service so we are doing our best," Ranjeet said.
The distance of the nearest hospital from the Singhu border is two-three kilometres and it takes 25-30 minutes to reach there due to traffic and unconditioned ways.
Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.