Odisha doctor spends lion's share of his salary in treating, feeding poor during Covid pandemic

BHUBANESWAR: Suryakanta Mahapatra, a 32-year-old doctor in Balangir district, has been spending a major share of his salary on providing free medicines and food for the underprivileged. Suryakanta, who is currently posted in a government-run primary health centre at Kushang in Balangir district, was drawn towards philanthropy following the death of his close friend Dr Soumya Ranjan Debta in a heart attack in January last year. As a tribute to their friendship, Suryakanta started offering free treatment to the needy in the middle of Covid from August last year.
“We had planned to provide free treatment to the poor in remote villages. After my friend’s death, I decided to fulfil his wish. After the end of duty hours at the hospital, I visit remote villages and offer free treatment to the poor. Around 70% of my salary is going towards purchasing medicines, food and conducting free medical camps for the poor,” Suryakanta said.
The doctor said he has already spent over Rs 2 lakh from his pocket towards the purchase of medicines and other essentials. At times, some generous pharmacists donated him medicines to help the needy.
“I have a small team. We have so far arranged 17 free health camps in remote villages in Balangir in the last few months. We could not conduct such camps in the past one month due to the severity of Covid. But we continue to reach out to the needy during the pandemic and are offering them free consultations over phone as well as medicines,” Suryakanta added.
He has created an outfit — Soumya Seva Foundation — after his friend’s name to serve the destitute. “We have started a mission to feed the homeless and destitute during the Covid second wave. Our team members have been spotting homeless persons on the streets and providing them food and medicines,” Suryakanta said.