Mumbai centre treats patients for just Rs 1K/day

Mumbai : Amid unending complaints of fleecing by private hospitals and medicos, a centre in north-Mumbai stands out like an oasis of hope for panicky COVID-19 patients.

Since the past couple of months, the Pawan Dham charitable centre in Kandivali west has become a refuge for those infected by corona, even as this middle-class region was recently declared a new 'hotspot' after Dharavi slum was on the steady route to 'recovery'.

"At the Pawan Dham, patients are being charged Rs 1,000 per day for full COVID-19 treatment. This includes lodging-boarding, but they have to pay for certain variables like external tests, etc.," North Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party MP Gopal Shetty told IANS.

The brainchild behind the project, Shetty says it was the outcome of the desire of the Jain spiritual leader Namramuni Maharaj, who wanted it to serve the needy masses during this global pandemic.

Accordingly, Pawan Dham -- originally a religious-cum-social services centre -- was converted into a private dedicated Covid-19 treatment charitable facility, informed its member, Nitin Sunderji Shah, a businessman who oversaw the implementation of the project.

"There are 70-beds in this centre and so far we have already treated and discharged around 200 completely cured patients from here," Shah said, adding that with the good reputation it has earned, there is already a long waiting list of patients seeking admission.

The centre is manned by a 70-strong army of corona warriors comprising medicos, nurses, support staffers, management functionaries and others who dedicatedly serve in three shifts.