Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Dec 9: The doctors of Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar’s Community Medicine Department, by going extra mile have started an initiative under which they provide the necessary warm clothes to the people who are in need in different areas of Srinagar.
The initiative which has been named ‘Apparel For Poor’ was started nearly 5 years ago, however, this year, the same has gained momentum with the active participation of people who are contributing to the initiative by donating warm clothes.
Dr Mohammad Salim Khan, who heads GMC Srinagar’s Community Medicine Department and is also leading the initiative told ‘Excelsior’ that the students of the department have to visit certain areas in Srinagar where they make themselves aware of various challenges people face.
“The way doctors visit the hospitals, similarly, in our department, we take the doctors directly to the community where they get to know about the living conditions, nutrition, socio-economic conditions of people,” he said.
Dr Khan said that during such visits, it was observed that the area which doctors visit, had a problem of people not having the necessary and effective clothes,to keep them warm during the chilly winter.
“We only visit the socio-economically poor areas. In this regard, we started an initiative under which a WhatsApp group was formed. It was decided to visit such places, arrange warm clothes and hand over the same to those in need during the field visits,” he said.
The initiative was then publicized on social media platforms and later received a great response. Then people came forward and donated warm clothes for further distribution among the needy people,” he added.
So far, this year, the doctors of the Community Medicine Department have donated clothes to the needy in two different areas in Srinagar during which nearly 100 individuals were provided with warm clothes.
Dr Khan said they still have got some clothes which will be distributed among the needy in days to come. “In the meantime, we are carrying out the sorting of the clothes as per the age group, and gender; and will be distributed in days to come,” he said.
He saidthat the majority of donors are from the non-medical profession, and they get to know about it from social media and donate generously to the cause.
It is to be noted here that the doctors only from the Community Medicine Department are associated with the initiative because, Dr Khan said, only the doctors from his department go into the community and get to know the living conditions of the people living in different areas.
Dr Khan said that such an initiative has got multi-pronged effects and imbibes a sense of social responsibility among the doctors. “They also get to know the socio-economic condition of the people living in these areas and what is more satisfying about it is that we ensure that the help reaches the doorsteps of those in need,” he said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
