NEW DELHI, 13 July 2007 — A hospital-on-rails that will travel through India’s vast rural hinterland was launched here yesterday by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, promising to bring free up-to-date medical and even surgical treatment for millions who have little access to modern medical facilities.
Describing the train as a “harbinger of hope” for the poor, Sonia praised the project as a successful outcome of public-private partnership. Sonia, who is also the chairperson of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, said the organization had been the single biggest supporter of the project. She also expressed her gratitude to Indian Railways for supporting the venture.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said that since 1991, Impact India Foundation with the cooperation of Indian Railways provided medical services to about 4,50,000 persons in remote and rural areas where medical facilities were almost nonexistent.
The new train service replaces the Lifeline Express that was launched in July 1991 by Impact India Foundation in collaboration with Indian Railways and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
The new hospital train has a main operation theater with three operating tables for conducting all free-of-cost surgeries like cataract, squints, micro surgeries of the inner ear, correction of cleft lip and orthopedic surgeries for deformed limbs. The hospital train also has a self-contained operation theater with two operating tables and four recovery beds together with an ophthalmic testing room, laboratory, X-Ray, etc.
The new coaches have been designed by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur at a cost of Rs.50 million approximately. According to the Impact India website, the train’s services include surgical interventions to restore movement to polio and orthopedic patients, cataract operations as well as preventive treatment in the form of immunization, administration of nutrients and creating health awareness among the deprived in rural and semi-urban areas.
The train is equipped with a large LCD television set, public address system, laboratory and close-circuit TV.
Indian Railways is planning to introduce another similar train “Red Ribbon Express” in Cooperation with National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) “to launch a countrywide awareness campaign to control the spread of the deadly disease,” Lalu said.
