My Journey to Green Paradise Chhattisgarh
After his experiences facilitating healthcare in the villages of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Odisha Dr Anantpal Singh writes about Chhattisgarh in his series.
Chhattisgarh is a lush green state with abundant natural reserves and beautiful weather. The state that can resemble paradise is famous for its Redbrick Laxman temple and Chitrakoot waterfalls. It is predominantly rural and was formed in the year 2000 by carving out 10 Chhattisgarhi and 6 Gondi speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh. Currently, the state has a population of 2.8 crores and comprises of 27 districts.
In Chhattisgarh, agriculture is the main occupation of more than 80% of the population. Additionally, the steel industry is the biggest heavy industry in Chhattisgarh. In fact, Raipur has become the centre of the steel sector representing the biggest market for steel in India.
Chhattisgarh is a mineral-rich state. It produces 20% of the country’s total cement. It has the highest output of coal in the country with second-highest reserves. It is third in iron ore production and first in tin production. Other than that, limestone, dolomite and bauxite are found in abundant quantities in the state. It is the only tin ore-producing state in India. Apart from this, other commercially extracted minerals including granite, quartz, marble, alexandrite and diamonds are also found in Chhattisgarh.
The social and health issues faced by the people of Chhattisgarh range from malnutrition, anaemia, G6PD deficiency, malaria, dengue etc. The quality of potable water coming from hand pumps is one of the major sources of diseases including the RED WATER DISEASE which is characterized by backaches and multiple skin ailments. The on-going problems of maternal and child mortality, communicable diseases, and HIV/AIDS pandemic still need greater interventions/support from the already overburdened health system.
From a public health point of view, most of the health indicators in the state are below the national average. The human resources gap, poor physical infrastructure, inadequate health education and awareness, poor health-seeking behaviour, and inadequate healthcare utilization compounds the problem.
Chhattisgarh is currently facing several challenges in improving the health and nutritional status of its people. The newer public health challenges include the escalating burden of chronic non-communicable diseases leading to an epidemiological transition, the rising elderly population leading to a demographic transition and environmental factors and climate changes that impact the disease patterns.
Due to substantial poverty, illiteracy, demography and poor roads, water, sanitisation and health infrastructure, in spite of the best efforts of the government, the ground reality is very distressing and painful. Our fellow countrymen in these far-flung areas are deprived of basic necessities and good quality of life and existence. We at Spectrum Health Solutions Ltd wish to solicit corporate help to improve the living conditions of our brothers and sisters in Chattisgarh. We wish to get wholehearted CSR support to help establish rural clinics and the provision of good quality medicines and diagnostic facilities and health education in these remote areas. We believe that our clinics are the best way to fill in the vacuum created in these regions. As a part of our pilot project we wish to start 5 rural clinics each in:
1. Baloda Bazar, which has a population of app 14 lakhs
2. Raipur, which has a population of app 22 lakhs
3. Raigarh, which has a population of app 15 lakhs
Let us all cohesively sustain a development plan for this new state and put our heart, smiles and best efforts to make Chhattisgarh a grand success.
Dr Anantpal Singh is a leading physician, entrepreneur and health researcher from Spectrum Health Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Dr Singh envisions a global community with healthcare solutions which are simple to use and deliver better results than conventional methods.
Views of the author are personal and do not necessarily represent the website’s views.
