The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : IIT-M to support rural health project in Kancheepuram

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Thursday, Mar 26, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

IIT-M to support rural health project in Kancheepuram

Special Correspondent

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

SHARING EXPERTISE: Job Kurian, dean IC and SR, IIT-Madras; G.Arun Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, IIT-Madras; R.Raghavan, chief operating officer, Hand in Hand, and Kalpana Sankar, chief executive officer, at the signing of an MoU in Chennai on Wednesday.

CHENNAI: As part of its programme to take up “socially relevant projects,” Indian Institute of Technology-Madras announced on Wednesday that it would provide conceptual and funding support to a rural healthcare project in Kancheepuram district.

In collaboration with Hand in Hand, a non-governmental organisation working in the field of rural healthcare, the project was conceived by IIT-Madras to bring healthcare facilities to the doorsteps of rural masses, representatives from both institutions said. “There are a number of government initiatives, but awareness is a major issue in Tamil Nadu. So, instead of creating parallel structures, we will try to increase awareness and also reach out to the more remote villages through this project,” said Kalpana Sankar, CEO, Hand in Hand.

Village selected

Providing details of the project, principal co-ordinator G. Arun Kumar, associate professor, Department of Management Studies, IIT-Madras, said that a remote village of 800 people in Kancheepuram had been selected for the pilot project, which would run for a year to study the residents’ actual needs.

With funding of Rs.5 lakh and conceptual support made possible by the 1981 batch of IIT-Madras, the project would also involve the villagers themselves in the project by asking for a token fee of Rs.10 for a consultation, R. Nagarajan, advisor, office of alumni affairs, said.

Medicines and testing facilities would be provided by the NGO, which already had a team of four doctors (two on consultative basis).

Along with the project, the team would also look at providing micro-insurance to the villagers and also integrate government schemes for vouchers.

Role of panchayat

The village had been asked to provide space, water and power for the clinic, and the panchayat had been asked to pass a resolution in favour of the scheme to involve the local government in the healthcare scheme.The pilot project would begin in the next six to eight weeks after the panchayat passed the resolution, Prof. Arun Kumar said.

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