Dedicated Indian doctor languishes in a filthy jail

Extracts from the encyclopedia compiled

By

DR. MRS. Meenal Kumar, M.D. senior gynecologist and menopause consultant, Sector 20 Civil Dispensary, Chandigarh

DR.R.KUMAR M.S., OPHTHALMOLOGIST AND HEALTH COLUMNIST, 232, SECTOR 16, CHANDIGARH

Doctor Binayak Sen is an unusual 58-year-old. He inspires people as a doctor, a kind, gentle human being and passionate human rights defender, a fighter for the rights of the poverty stricken tribal people to whom he has dedicated his life. Yet, after 30 years of committed work for the poor, he is currently languishing in a filthy jail in Chattisgarh, Central India. The story is a long one.

Binayak graduated from the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, one of India’s premier institutions. Even as a student he was something of a legend - charismatic, caring, concerned about every last patient. Stories are being exchanged on the web about him.  Dr Sara Bhattacharji, one of his contemporaries, writes: ‘As a new intern, in CMC Vellore, at the end of a grueling day he realized he had written a prescription for Lasix (a diuretic) for a patient, without also including the required potassium supplement. The patient had of course left by this time. Binayak went to the medical records department and looked up the patient's address, then to the pharmacy where he bought the potassium, then sallied forth taking various bone-rattling village buses (remember this is a Bengali floundering without the local language, in rural Tamil Nadu) to the patient's village, where he delivered the medicine to the patient.’ That was early Binayak.

Mine workers

He became a pediatrician, and then focused on community health, which was his passion. Binayak met, wooed and married Ilina. He was fortunate to have found a soul-mate as committed to eradicating poverty as himself. Ilina - warm, caring, compassionate - is one of those rare individuals adored by everyone who knows her.

The doctor’s heart was always with the poor, so he joined an organization run by the Quakers in Hosangabad. Here, in addition to the general work, he was involved in the care of tuberculosis patients. He began to visit some of the mine areas in South Madhya Pradesh (now Chhattisgarh). Contact with the extreme poverty and the plight of the unorganized mine workers moved him. He was invited to join them by their leaders and was primarily responsible for developing a low-cost clinic in Dalli Rajahara.

The mine workers had employment - the hospital was run on their modest donations. The trade union was strong. Volunteers from the union helped to organize the people and work for education, and better social and environmental conditions. They also conducted anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco campaigns. This helped to keep costs down and left the doctors free to provide low-cost, good-quality clinical care. The hospital has now grown to a 90-bed facility.

New models

When he felt it could run without his help, Binayak moved on. He worked for some time in a mission hospital, nearby in Tilda. He treated patients and trained village health workers. Though he was happy doing this, he felt the necessity to do more than just treat the few who were able to access services.

So they moved to Raipur and started a trust called Rupantar to explore models of development that reflect the people’s aspirations. The new place was totally different from Dalli Rajahara. The people lived in scattered villages. Most of them had a long history of being displaced by the damming of the Mahanadi river, especially the Hirakud Dam.

After a significant struggle, 12 of 18 villages were recognized and given amenities. The other six were destroyed, causing further displacement of people. Regular work was a problem. So getting people organized was hard. The issues needing attention were livelihood, education and health. As Binayak started to set up clinics and train health workers he also realized that the main problems were malaria, TB, high mother and child mortality. He experienced the slowly dawning realization that the people were chronically undernourished. This underlying malnutrition became an important focus for t

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