Kumbh Mela : NGO sets up 100-bed hospital

Allahabad: NGO Narayan Seva Sansthan (NSS) has set up a spiritual and surgical camp at the ongoing Kumbh Mela, along with an artificial limb development unit. 

Prashant Agarwal, President of Narayan Seva Sansthan, speaking to reporters here on Thursday said senior surgeon Amar Singh Chundawat's team will be measuring differently-abled individuals for making customised limbs for them, which will then be installed and donated to the beneficiaries.  

"We will conduct surgeries free of cost," he said. The NGO has set up a 100-bed hospital at the fair site at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. 

Agarwal said, the NGO has invited volunteers from all across the country and divided them in three groups - for cleanliness, operation of wheelchairs, and foot massage of devotees. 

"The 'Swachh Army' deals with cleanliness in the mela. The 'Wheelchair Army' will help the elderly, who are unable to walk, or disabled. They provide wheelchair and help them to enjoy the Kumbh Mela. The 'Foot Massage Army' will help pilgrim and saints by giving them a massage," the president of the Udaipur-based NGO said. 

The NSS had operated on 3.7 lakh patients in the past 33 years and has provided them socio-economic support by making available best of medical services, medicines and technologies free of cost.  

"Out of 3.7 lakh patients, around 2 lakh patients were from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar," he said. 

The 2019 Kumbh Mela commenced on January 15 on Makar Sankranti and will come to an end on Mahashivratri on March 4. More than 12 crore people are expected to take part in the festival over the next 50 days.