Gulf-based businessman gets award from Indian president

K.T. Mohammed Rabeeullah, a prominent Indian businessman in the Gulf, yesterday received a prestigious award from Indian President Pranab Mukherjee for his outstanding contributions to the community and humanitarian services.
The award known as Pravasi Bharathiya Puraskaram was given during the concluding ceremony of a conference of Indian expatriates in Kochi, Kerala. Fourteen other prominent Non-Resident Indians also received the award. Rabeeullah, who is chairman Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Group, runs a number polyclinics in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. The group employs more than 4,000 people from different countries, including 700 doctors. More than 35,000 people receive the services of Shifa polyclinics every day.
“The contributions made by Rabeeullah in popularizing and making the healthcare system affordable and available for the ordinary people have been immense,” said one of his friends. “It was he who literally opened the doors of super-specialty healthcare treatment for ordinary people working in the Gulf,” he added.
Started off 30 years ago with a tiny clinic, the group today offers its services through 25 healthcare centers and hospitals and as many pharmacies in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. It has set up a company in Dubai producing medical equipment and medical disposable items.
After arriving in Saudi Arabia in 1979, he had to face a lot of difficulties in the beginning of his career. This made him ponder about offering healthcare for the needy. While working at the clinic of Dr. Badaruddin, who died recently, he could understand the pangs of life suffered by the average expatriates.
“He was touched by the sufferings of his compatriots from Kerala, who found it hard to explain their illnesses to Egyptian doctors. Many found it difficult to pay the consulting fee of SR 75-100. The heavy cost of laboratory tests and medicines in fact added insult to their injury,” said another associate.
Rabeeullah vowed to work toward providing the best healthcare possible to ordinary people at affordable prices, making use of the services of Malayali doctors. His dreams became a reality with the opening of his first polyclinic, Badaruddin in Sharafiya, Jeddah. That clinic paved the way for a revolution in private healthcare service in Saudi Arabia.
His group now runs polyclinics in Jeddah, Dammam, Riyadh, Jizan, and Khamis Mushait. He introduced a special discount card for Malayalis by charging SR 10 as doctor’s fee from them. “This brought a great solace to thousands of Keralites in Saudi Arabia,” said an expatriate worker from the Indian state.
Rabeeullah introduced a pension scheme for poor families in his village in Malappuram, constructed a stadium at Kodur and provided livelihood for dozens of families by offering them free auto rickshaws.