Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Sep 3: Karnataka health minister, U T Khader, is known to rush to help people in distress, in spite of his busy schedule. His humane side got exemplified again on Wednesday September 2, when the minister, after coming to know that a man from Kolkata, who has been suffering from cancer, had been aimlessly loitering in the city as there was no one to help him, intervened and made arrangements to treat him.
The minister made arrangement to admit him into the district Wenlock hospital here and instructed the concerned to provide proper care and treatment to the patient. He said he would get the man admitted into Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology at Bengaluru if the need for the same is felt.
Shubhankar, the man in question, who hails from Kolkata, was being treated at Chennai. For some reasons, he got separated from his mother, after which he became listless and began to roam around aimlessly. He had come to the city about five days back. When passing through the road in front of Kamadhenu Milk Products located near Kadri Lord Manjunatheshwara temple in the city, he had explained about his predicament to the shop owner, Harish Belchada. Harish, taking pity on the stranger, provided food to him and led him to a private hospital, where the hospital staff refused to admit him as he did not possess any documents.
Later, Harish contacted minister, U T Khader, through some persons known to him. The minister then arranged for the visit of 108 ambulance to the spot, through which Shubhankar was taken to Wenlock Hospital. He also asked the medical officer of the hospital to ensure that the patient gets proper treatment there.
On the face of it, Shubhankar appears to be distraught and mentally a little bit unstable. He has not been providing all details about him. In a diary he holds, he has listed out addresses of some dignitaries from the city, but there is no information how and why he collected these addresses. There is a mark left by a previous surgery in his abdomen region.
The minister, speaking to media persons, said that he had taken interest in this patient purely out of humanitarian concern. He stressed that if it is found after initial treatment and assessment at Wenlock Hospital that the man needs advanced treatment, he would be provided the same at Kidwai Hospital Bengaluru. Noting that the patient is not in possession of any telephone numbers, he said that information would be gathered on the basis of his home address and that his family members would be notified about his presence here.
Shubhankar has given his address as Shubhankar Saha, son of the late Sameer Saha and Mrs Khatia Saha, Krishnanagar, Post Shaktinagar, Nagendra Choudhary Road, district Nadia, PIN 741 102, West Bengal.