Odisha town gathers to bid doc goodbye
BHUBANESWAR: When Dr Kishore Chandra Das was posted at a dilapidated community health centre in Tentulikhunti eight years ago, the townsfolk seemed wary. They had seen many doctors come and go and no one believed he would be different. But a lot can change with time.
Over 500 people, both young and old, came out on the streets to bid Dr Das a tearful farewell when he packed his bags last Sunday. He had decided to leave the town to pursue a postgraduate degree in orthopaedics at a private medical college-cumhospital in Bhubaneswar.
“The entire town seemed to be crying,” said Tulu Satpathy, a local resident who participated in the farewell march from the health centre to the outskirts of the town in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district. “They hugged Dr Das and asked him to return after he completes his higher studies. So many people came to see him off that the main road was completely jammed for over an hour.”
What warranted such an outpouring of affection for Dr Das? Ask local residents, and they will relate a story of how the 32-yearold medical professional almost single-handedly turned their community health centre into a modern medical facility.
A graduate of Rajiv Gandhi University of Medical Sciences in Bengaluru, Dr Das had begun his work in Tentulikhunti at a time when over 80% of specialist positions in the field were vacant. Sources said Dr Das spruced up the health centre by setting up an air-conditioned delivery room, an operation theatre and an oxygen concentrator, among other facilities. This, coupled with his extended working hours, earned him the public’s goodwill. “People would come here from far-off places, spending as much as ₹300-₹400 on travel. I felt bad turning them away just because they had arrived late,” said Dr Das.
“He was always at the beck and call of 70,000 people in our block,” said Tentulikhunti block development officer Anakar Thakur.
An emotional Dr Das said, “I will surely return to Tentulikhunti if I get the chance. Since childhood, I was told that doctors are like God to their patients. The people here treated me like one.”