Bhansali Trust

Bhansali Trust is involved in various educational and development initiatives in North Gujarat. It manages Aanganwadis under the ICDS scheme, providing preschool education, nutrition, immunization, and healthcare. Its Adolescent Girls Awareness Programme focuses on non-formal education and health training for girls aged 10-15. It provides education and Braille training to blind students from remote villages. Additionally, it has a training centre for Anganwadi workers. The SUVAS project, implemented by the trust, aims to increase levels of education, de-addiction, and family planning services. Under this project, one representative works with 15 villages. Tuition classes and extracurricular activities are hosted.

Bhansali Trust operates hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic centres, providing comprehensive healthcare services, including multidisciplinary care, deliveries, operations, diagnostic facilities, and treatment of lifestyle disorders. It organises free eye camps, conducts cataract surgeries, and collaborates with organisations for operative camps addressing polio corrective surgeries and cleft lip and palate corrections.

Bhansali Trust focuses on various healthcare initiatives. It has a robust immunization programme that covers numerous villages, vaccinating children annually against major diseases. The Trust also provides supplementary nutrition to preschool children, pregnant women, and lactating women, resulting in a reduction in malnourished children from 10% to 4% over the past decade. To combat Vitamin A deficiency and prevent blindness, the Trust distributes 300,000 capsules of Vitamin A every year, leading to no new cases of childhood blindness in 400 villages. Additionally, the Trust has introduced paramedical services in remote villages, providing primary healthcare and non-prescription drugs to patients annually.

The Safe Motherhood Program implemented by the Trust focuses on providing antenatal services, vaccinations for pregnant mothers and children, and health education in remote villages. A team of Rural Health Workers, with one worker assigned to ten villages, carries out these services and discusses emergency obstetric care during field visits. Approximately 20,000 pregnant mothers are covered by this program each year, leading to a significant reduction in maternal mortality rates. Additionally, the Trust has conducted a training programme for Traditional Birth Attendants from 588 villages, further contributing to the decline in maternal mortality. Future plans include training an additional 700 birth attendants. In terms of spacing and family planning, the Trust has successfully brought about positive changes in socially conservative communities over the past 20 years. They have facilitated women to undergo laparoscopic surgery for spacing and family planning.

The CHAPT (Community Health Awareness, Prevention and Treatment) initiative was launched in 2004 with the objective of preventing chronic illnesses, particularly non-communicable diseases, in rural areas. This programme addresses conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and cancer. Currently, a team of five health workers covers 60 villages. They conduct field-level assessments of blood pressure and blood sugar, provide advice on adopting a healthy lifestyle, and refer patients in need to the main hospital. The programme also aims to track and encourage regular follow-up and treatment for patients who visit the hospital irregularly.

The Trust's T.B. control program, initiated in 1984, encompasses 1,200 villages. A key aspect of this programme is the deployment of specialized field staff, numbering over 20, who ensure follow-up and completion of treatment. the Trust has taken charge of a treatment unit of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) in Radhanpur. This unit provides directly observed treatment to all T.B. patients in the area, The Trust also operates an Opium De-addiction programme, covering 1,100 villages in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Ten workers are dedicated to regularly motivating individuals to quit opium and prevent relapse.

The Trust has implemented several initiatives to support economic empowerment and livelihood opportunities in rural areas. This includes providing Kapas Lodhia machines to families, enabling them to separate seeds from cotton and generate additional income. It also undertakes the deepening of stone wells through blasting, resulting in increased water availability for irrigation. In the cottage industry sector, 68 women are employed in papad production, while 134 women are involved in making woollen carpets. The Trust also distributes sewing machines at subsidized rates to women in small villages. Additionally, it provides loans to families, allowing them to establish their own small businesses.

The Trust extends humanitarian aid to impoverished and vulnerable families on a monthly basis, irrespective of their caste, creed, or religion. Additionally, the Trust has initiated the Swa-shakti project, establishing self-help groups in villages. These groups consist of socially and economically disadvantaged women who contribute small savings each month. With the help of bank loans and the group's accumulated funds, it provides micro-credit to members interested in starting small businesses. The project also aims to raise awareness among group members regarding health, hygiene, education, immunization, and de-addiction.