Nanritam

NANRITAM is a non-profit social welfare organization (Registration No. S/11/8102 of 2001-02 under Society Registration Act 1961) started in 2002 by a Read more few like-minded professionals who had one common inspiration to guide them - Swami Vivekananda’s ideal of service to mankind. The organization had started working with a small community of slum dwellers in North Kolkata in 2001 through a small, health care unit. Though the scale was small the approach was to make the services as comprehensible as was possible, given its limited means in the early days.  In 2004 Nanritam started working in the rural Para Block of Purulia district which has, over the years, become the principal centre of most of its activities. Nanritam now operates from its headquarters at Barandanga Village in Para Block, Purulia where the entire executive committee is full-time resident. This campus at present also hosts a 100- member resident workforce. This team, along with another 140 field workers selected from the community for its community outreach activities, supports the organization’s work in the backward districts of Purulia, Bankura and Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal. Nanritam's interventions target those areas where poverty and socio-economic indicators are below the national and state average and suffering is acute.  In conformity with Nanritam's credo of capability enhancement through comprehensive human development in the areas being served by it, the organization has been focusing on providing health-related services, quality education and enhancing livelihood opportunities. VISION: Our vision is to see the underprivileged in remote and neglected areas live a healthy, purposeful and active life - a life they can command themselves, free of the shackles of poverty, ill-health and illiteracy. MISSION: Our mission is to render holistic support to all underprivileged irrespective of gender, class, creed or religion by creating: A state-of-art eye-care system that can run by trained community members and become a community asset Skill training with employment linkages for the youth Create livelihood interventions that are relevant to the local context Care for infants and children with special needs A system of quality education for rural children as a part of community development CORE VALUES: Inclusive Growth Holistic approach to development Transparency as an integral part of all activities. Our Guiding spirit-Swami Lokeswaranandji Maharaj: Born on 19th April 1909, Swami Lokeswaranandaji Maharaj left his mortal frame on 31st December 1998. A renowned monk of the Ramakrishna Order, Swami Lokeswaranandaji was a ‘Man without Frontiers.’ He was an erudite scholar & a great visionary with the rare ability to transform his visions into action & achievement. A man of indomitable courage, he built up the multidimensional educational complex of Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission and made it a centre for excellence in school education. He also created the Narendrapur Lokshiksha Parishad that continues to equip the rural youth with employable skills in thousands of villages all over the country. He also set up the Blind boys’ Academy in Naredrapur that has excelled as one of the leading institutions for the blind in the whole of Asia. During his tenure at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, Swami Lokeswaranandaji diversified the activities of the Institute and made it an International Cultural Centre recognized globally as an institution par excellence. He was the pioneer in establishing the Ramakrishna Vivekananda movement in Russia. He was invited to speak at Oxford, Cambridge, Humboldt & other universities throughout Europe, United States & Canada. OUR MAJOR UNITS : >Lokeswarananda Eye Foundation: ( LEF), This Eye Hospital at Para began as a small 6 bedded Eye hospital at Barandanga, Para, in 2008 that grew into a 100 bedded super speciality Eye hospital in 2012 with initial financial support from the Government of West Bengal. Presently it caters to about 200,000 patients per year of which 90% are not required to make any out of the pocket expense. Performance Dashboard Surgeries per year – 8,500 + average Free surgeries ratio – 92% of the patients undergoing surgery do not incur the expense Total patients per year – 2,00,000 Free patients ratio – 90% of patients treated here do not incur any out of pocket expense Services Offered in a nutshell : Cataract surgeries with IOL implantation (including Phaco) Glaucoma surgeries Vitreoretinal surgeries ( for Macular hole, Retinal detachment, Giant retinal tear, Vitreous Hemorrhages etc) Squint surgeries Endo-DCR procedure Other surgeries (Sac, Lid surgeries etc) Diagnostics: Biometry, Pachymetry, Automated perimetry, USG, OCT, FDT, Retinal angiography etc. Lasers: YAG and Green Tele-ophthalmology unit The inspiration: Way back in the 90s, Swami Lokeswarananda, then the moral and intellectual force at Ramakrishna Mission, inspired a group of people to set up an eye hospital in Para as a service to the economically underdeveloped area in West Bengal. They grew up with this inspiration, sharing the idea with others, and finally made the leap of faith in the next decade with the support of accomplished professionals in India and the US, and followers of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. The doctors who serve: The best doctors in the state services in this eye hospital. It started with committed doctors making the overnight journey from Howrah to Anara in Howrah Chakradhapur Passenger, performing the surgeries during the day at the hospital, and returning in another overnight journey. When some of these doctors retired, they moved to Para, to serve their full time. Thus this eye hospital is blessed with the best doctors in the region, some full time, some part-time, thanks to the blessings of the Divine Mother. Many of them are former or current practitioners at Sankara Nethralaya, B B Eye Foundation, Narayana Nethralaya, Apollo Gleaneaggles and others. There are 21 doctors in all – five in the Vitreo Retina department, 14 in Anterior Segment, and 2 physicians. Mr Dilip Ghosh, former Health secretary, West Bengal, also serves the mission. LEF is equipped with some sophisticated instruments and in the process of constructing two Modular OTs. The costly instruments are procured from Individual Donors or from CSR funds of Corporates / PSUs. In some cases Machines procured by availing Interest-free loans from the supplier companies. > FILIX SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: Over the years, English has emerged as the language of choice for commerce, economic growth and social mobility. Teaching their children quality 'English' has emerged as one of the top expectations of the majority of parents. Filix School of Education is Nanritam’s response to this hugely felt need enabling the children of Mamata the maid, Sipu the attendant, Dasarath the farmer, Nagar the cook, and many of their ilk to obtain quality education in English medium side by side with children from economically less disadvantaged families. The school has set forth its journey in April 2014 with three pre-school classes: Nursery, KG I, KG II and 70 students in total. Filix believes that Each child has a unique way of exploring the world around them, a distinct process of acquiring knowledge and a unique individual style of interacting with people around them. This makes every single child special in his/her own way. Our aim is to appreciate the uniqueness of each child and provide them with adequate support and space to bloom. The total students' strength is 600 plus from Nursery to STD VIII. The school got the CBSE affiliation in 2020 up to Secondary Level.  > NANRITAM KRISHI KENDRA ( AN AGRICULTURE UNIT ): Nanritam had realised that along with health and education the community needed to be supported for better livelihood options too, and this led to the creation of an agriculture wing in 2010 involving 70 farmers in 6 villages. The numbers in the following years have swelled, and the Krishi Kendra now works with a much larger number of farmers covering a few districts.  > UDBHAAS: Nanritam also has a unit for improving the life quality of developmentally challenged children through Integrated Care by an interdisciplinary team ( UDBHAAS ) to help these children realise their full potentiality.