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The wellbeing of the workers is of
paramount importance to the
Management of the estate, in
keeping with the Company’s ethos.
The hospital, built in 1916 – a hundred
years ago – is continuously modernized and well equipped
to look after the health care of the estate’s populace.
Records say that the first Medical Officer was
Mehboob Ali, a Legal Medical Practitioner from Tangla.
He managed to save the lives of many a worker injured by
elephants and tigers. Mehboob Ali’s son, Taffajul, was a
talented lyricist, musician and writer. He retired as the
HoD of Assamese at Guwahati Commerce College and
passed away in 2008. He was awarded the Padmashree for
Art & Literature posthumously in 2009.
Since Mehboob Ali’s time, sixteen qualified medical
professionals have successively and successfully taken care
of the residents of the estate.
The hospital is the first among the tea estate hospitals in
the Mangaldai cluster to have been nominated as a
protégé under the National Health Mission by the
District Health Society, Udalguri. This has enabled the
Management to receive a grant of
`
7.5 lakh annually
towards promoting and sustaining health care initiatives
amongst the residents of the workers’ Lines, including
non-working family members, thereby ensuring total
health care for the populace. A recent initiative is
documenting the haemoglobin levels of the estate’s female
population in order to ensure that the estate achieves an
‘Anaemia-Free’ status in the next three years.
The resident Senior Medical Officer along with his team,
and with the support and encouragement of the
Management, has successfully launched and sustained
several programmes on primary health care in the District.
The hospital personnel have been felicitated by the
District TB Unit for three consecutive years for their
efforts towards Effective Control of TB among the estate’s
residents. The rampant cases of malaria of the past have
been arrested due to prolific anti-malaria measures
implemented annually around the estate.
The novel approach of keeping ‘low birth-weight’ babies
interned, administering the best of neo-natal care under
constant supervision till they achieve 2.5 kg body weight,
has resulted in the effective control of infant mortality.The
hospital’s programmes on Control of Maternal and Child
Mortalities have been lauded by the Regional Resource
Centre, Guwahati. The estate has contributed to the
Company’s CSR initiatives by promoting IOL
implantation among retired staff and workers; hosting
health camps for the aged and infirm; and distributing
orthopaedic aids among the differently abled residents.
The estate’s LP Schools impart free primary education to
the workers’ children. An alumnus, Sri D.K. Chauhan,
went on to qualify as a journalist and has won many
accolades for sterling work in the field of journalism.
The Jawa Community Video Unit based at Dimakusi T.E.
was set up in 2010. They produced their first Video
Magazine, ‘Aiy Podbo’, (Come, let’s Study) on the
July 2016 09
Medical Camps
Hospital & Mehboob Ali (inset)