NGO Volunteers Planning to Set Up Two-bed Temporary Hospital for Protesting Farmers at Singhu Border

Volunteers of an NGO are planning to set up a temporary hospital with two beds for the protesting farmers at the Singhu border. The NGO, Life Care Foundation, had set up a medical camp at the Singhu border on November 30 last year. Sadiq Mohammad, a pharmacist and a volunteer of the NGO, said the rains have delayed their plans.

"We had planned to start the emergency hospital from Wednesday, but it has been delayed due to the rains. Our tent started leaking. We will install a tent with better waterproofing on Wednesday. In another couple of days, the hospital will be set up in a portion of the tent," he said. Sadiq said there are eight volunteers of the NGO, including pharmacists and technicians, who have come to the Singhu border from Punjab's Mohali district. Five of them sleep in the tent, while three have opted for a paying guest accommodation in a nearby area.

Another volunteer, Avtar Singh, said an ECG facility will be available at the camp from Wednesday. "We have lost six boxes of medicines due to the rains. We will install a tent with better waterproofing on Wednesday and the same day, the ECG facility will be started," he said.

Rains continued in Delhi for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, even as the minimum temperature in the city rose to 13.2 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal. The volunteers of the NGO said five-six patients have come to them with heart-related issues.

"We want to give emergency services to the protesters. If someone suffers from cardiac arrest, with prompt medical help, he can survive. We request the government to collaborate with the nearby hospitals so that a protester can get treatment on time without being worried about the bills," Singh said. The two-bed hospital will be functional round the clock, he said, adding that two doctors will monitor the patients.

"We recommend hospitalisation to a patient if he or she has some serious issues. Around 40 per cent of the people who work or live in the nearby areas are approaching us with health issues," Sadiq said. Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, are staying put at various border points of Delhi since late November last year to protest against recent farm laws of the Centre.

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