Living in the shadow of cancer……..S Surekha
Can the shelters built to accomodate Tata hospital’s patients and families take care of the hundreds living on the streets?
Can the shelters built to accomodate Tata hospital’s patients and families take care of the hundreds living on the streets?
It isn’t surprising to see the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) teeming with people. What may catch you unawares are the patient’s families that have made the streets outside the hospital home.
They are families who have left their villages to get their loved ones treated for cancer and found no accommodation elsewhere. However, according to Humayun Jafri, PRO, TMH, many stay there in spite of having the choice to go to the many homes set up for them. The reason? They regularly get free food from well-wishers and NGOs while they are here on the streets.
“I am sure if people are stopped from distributing free food to the patients and their families living on the pavement, more than 50 per cent will shift to the homes,”
says Jafri
says Jafri
Some of the low cost or free accommodation available for the patients and their families include Sant Gadge Maharaj Dharamsala, Musafirkhana, Nana Palkar Institute, St Jude’s Home for children, Umedh Foundation, Bharat Seva Ashram and Bandra Bourgeois, which is a TATA initiative. Though most of them are very close to TMH, some are at Vashi. All the homes have arranged for buses or other daily services to help patients commute to the hospital.
But the homes have different rules, St. Jude’s Home is for children and only accommodates a child patient with both his parents. At Nana Palkar, patients can stay only up to a month after which they have to arrange for alternate accommodation. Most of these homes charge a minimum of Rs10 per person per day, which they believe is nominal.
However, Raju Devi from Bihar who has been living on the pavement opposite TMH since two months disagrees. “My husband has cancer. I have come here with two sons. How can we afford to pay Rs40 a day with no earning member? None of the homes offer free accommodation,” she says. Santosh Bavan Vanere who is from Buldhana, came with his wife and child for the treatment of his three year old daughter. Having found no accommodation, they lived on the pavement for a few days and then moved to St Judes Home. “Before that, we lived at Nana Palkar, but we had to move out of there after a month,” he said.
Gadge Maharaj which accommodates about 600 patients, has about 20 patients who are living there completely free. “In Bandra Bourgeois and Nana Palkar, many patients live for free,” says Jafri.
With more and more homes coming up, the number of people on the pavement has reduced but the influx is very high with about a hundred patients coming here every day, says Jafri. “There are plans to expand the Bandra Borgeious Home. There is a need for more homes to provide free accommodation for the patients,” he said.