Ponty Chadha Foundation’s Naiphal health Camp

The adage ‘health is wealth’ could never have been any truer than now.  While everybody these days scurries through tight schedules, it is health that gets pushed to the backburner. Though that’s generally true of urban populace, Ponty Chadha Foundation has learnt that villages have their own share of larger, and often unrecognized, problems. 

One such village is Naiphal in Ghaziabad.  The villagers here have been faced by lack of medical aid for the longest time, which was taken cognizance of by the Foundation, and, a health camp organised on 6th September, 2014.

The day set off early as villagers started queuing up at 0700 hours by the village temple which was used for the event. By 1000 hours, doctors and paramedics from the Dr. Ram Saran Garg Indo German Hospital got the camp officially underway, and by the stroke of noon, over 100 families had got a general health check done.

The momentum was maintained right through untilevery attendee had had themselves medically examined. As planned, by 1300 hours the whole village was comprehensively covered. 

As the paramedics and teams of doctors went about their business, a group of volunteers from the Ponty Chadha Foundation tended to the assemblage in the temple hall where due arrangements to accommodate the gathering had been made. 

Other volunteers divvied up in teams to ensure the villagers made the most of this opportunity and the event went by well-ordered.  Every villager was guided through a check point where they displayed their registration details before seeing the medical team. 

The dwellers of village Naiphal, it came out during the camp, were particularly prone to respiratory, joint, and vision issues, with quite a few of them, needing further treatment. Such cases were, after being examined and administered available aid, asked to show up at the Indo German Hospitalwhere they would get treated with support and aid from the Foundation

It is rather surprising that the village does not have any Anganwadi centre to aid its population. Ponty Chadha Foundation learnt through a former Anganwadi worker that the village was deemed an urban body which has putit directly under the purview of Dasna Tehsil’s government facility. Ever since, the gap between facilities and aid has only widened,and the village has not got due attention from the concerned authorities.

Ponty Chadha Foundation's Kazipura's Health Camp

The morning of 25th June was a bright one for the people of Kazipura, for the residents, in unison, assembled at Ponty Chadha Foundation’s free health campaign set up for treating health issues inherent in the region.

The village of Kazipura has a lot of people who suffer from joint pain and cataract. The most perturbing of all issues is that a greater part of the village finds professional healthcare hard to get to, and hence it’s kind of normal for matters of health to be shirked away as a way of life.

Realizing the problem, the Ponty Chadha Foundation approached with the solution of a health camp that attracted people from all walks, specially mothers and children. Dr. Ram Saran Garg hospital, the best Indo-German hospital around, and its team of doctors and paramedics collaborated in raising health awareness and treating the villagers for various issues.

The camp started at 10 in the morning and by 1 pm, a sizable population from the village of 250 families had got checked up for cataract and joint pain in particular, and undergone general healthcare checks.

The residents were beforehand informed to get themselves registered.  The team of doctors and the medical team, in tandem, ensured requisite medicaments were provided and those in need of extended medical supervision are taken under the wing.

The Ponty Chadha foundation has been doing its bit to scale up social welfare across the country. It focuses strongly on the idea of social parity through endeavours in health, education, and special care.

The Foundation also strongly advocates malnourishment eradication and several of its efforts, especially in rural India, are directed towards that. It has garnered the support of Indian FoodBanking Network and is steadily extending outreach through countrywide programs from time to time.

Ponty Chadha Foundation Initiates Health Camp in Hathipur

Healthcare in India is not a level playing field. Though technological advancements have led to state-of-the-art facilities across states, high treatment costs put these virtually out of bounds of the poor.

The existing public healthcare system, plagued by infrastructural, staffing, and quality issues, falls short on catering to over 260 million people in need of healthcare and nutrition support. Such a massive pressure exposes the cracks in the system all the more, and leaves nearly a third of the country deprived of quality health facilities.

Extending support in bridging some of the gaps is the Ponty Chadha Foundation. Recently, at a health camp held in village Hathipur (UP), the Foundation, along with staff from Dr. Ram Saran Garg (Indo-German) Hospital, tended to the indisposed with free medication, consultation, and examination.

Prenatal care was one of the key focus areas since the geography faces inadequate maternity care facilities. Would-be mothers and those who had recently embraced motherhood made a beeline for expert care from a distinguished team of doctors and paramedical staff.

The area has also been prone to cataract.  The old, in particular, have been majorly predisposed owing to below par ophthalmic support. A special team of ophthalmologists and optometrists served the affected, carrying out free surgeries, and educating the villagers on post-operative care.  The team also encouraged those with developing signs to adopt corrective measures.

In line with guiding principles of social welfare, a series of measures initiated across the country by Ponty Chadha's Foundation have helped bring aid to hundreds of needy with limited quality healthcare options. Some of the more recent efforts have been in small places like Inayatpur, Shadipur Chhidoli, and Dinanathpur Puthi and plans to extend further out to remote locales are on the way.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation: Curbing Child Malnutrition in India

The common perception about malnutrition in India being primarily a lack of food issue has been straightened out by the recent World Bank findings which state that lack of a central policy for food dissemination and low focus on quality have been instrumental in India lacking behind some sub Saharan African nations on the prevalence of underweight children.

Malnutrition in children is also as rampant because of inappropriate primary care facilities, high predisposition towards infection, and lacking in feeding and care, in the first few years of a child. This puts children in India, particularly from the economically marginalized classes, at the greatest risk of having to bear long-term malnutrition consequences.

India's central, and the most comprehensive policy response to child malnutrition, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), has not been as effective in controlling child malnutrition due to a number of reasons.

Firstly, the deployment for targeting greater mass coverage and the core focus of the program being children above three years of age have rendered the ICDS widely unyielding. Children under two years of age have been proven the most vulnerable, but this group is not what the ICDS is particularly aimed at.

Demographic and socioeconomic variables also play an important role, but as per the World Bank, greater damage is being caused by a lack of established food supply system and quality control. India produces enough food for its internal consumption, but is unable to feed its poor because of an imbalance between supply and production.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation has been drawing the nation’s attention on this front through its various initiatives directed at plugging the supply chain gaps. Its pilot food banking project in Delhi NCR has been acknowledged by the India Food Banking Network (IFBN) for being a charity-driven food chain that procures food directly from government funded agencies and ensures it gets delivered the quickest to the needy in Noida and Ghaziabad.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation: Food Bank Solution for Malnutrition

A major focus of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG), set in 2000 with a 2015-deadline, is to reduce the child mortality rate and bolster maternal care and health across the world. While a few countries, like China, have achieved phenomenal success with the MDG goals, India is more than likely to miss the mark on child malnutrition, sanitation, and other key social parameters despite a number of programs and measures having been introduced.

The World Bank puts a number of reasons accounting for India's lack of success to deduce that the country does not lack in food production means but has not been able to create an established system of monitoring nutrition and food delivery. A high segment of the malnourished population suffers because access to food sources and government programs is either limited or non-existent.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation's food banking concept, aimed at providing greater access to food supplies, addresses malnutrition at the core. The concept involves a chain of subsidiaries for procurement of government aided and surplus food supplies from charities, NGOs, and markets. The procurement, after being put through standard quality control checks, is delivered directly to an identified demographic.

A pilot run of the concept has been launched in Delhi NCR wherein the poor and needy from 18 villages around Noida and Ghaziabad are aided with food supplies. The initiative has already been recognized and supported by the Indian Food Banking Network (IFBN) and the foundation is planning to implement the system further across the country.

In line with its guiding philosophy of inclusive growth, the Ponty Chadha Foundation also runs free medical checks in special camps held across the country. It also aims at creating greater malnutrition awareness in the nation by engaging the youth of the country. Special sensitization drives are held to foster progress on this front.

Malnutrition Remains A Concerning Cause For India

For India, a strong, able bodied workforce that can drive production, increase exports, and strengthen the nation economically is a crucial growth factor. However, with the World Bank malnutrition findings, rating India worse than some of the poorest nations worldwide,and stating that the prevalence of underweight children in India to be higher than sub-Saharan nations, India’s growth aspirations stand severely challenged.

A huge malnourished section is a big impediment for any country and can potentially stall growth by creating an underproductive, undernourished workforce. India, in particular, has a culturally strong labour force, and the country needs it, to keep pace with the growing economy and support expanding infrastructure.

The fight against malnutrition has been a prolonged one for India. It is almost since independence that the country has been faced with malnutrition, and even with a number of schemes and programs being devised,checking the malnutrition curve has been a tall order.

According to the World Bank, India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is one of the most comprehensive and well-placed schemes to trigger a change, but needs a different implementation approach. Instead of focusing on gaining demographic coverage alone, the ICDS must be looked at in a way that promotes faster food delivery, nutrition control, and other core fundamentals.

The challenges for the undernourished set in, as early as birth, with as many as one in three newborns underweight, a majority on account of the malnourished mother. If not cared for, such children are highly likely to develop cognitive and physical disorders arising from the effects of stunting and wasting.

Serving hopeto the millions of malnourished in India is the Ponty Chadha Foundation which was established to further the vision of philanthropy. The foundation works towardhelping the weaker sections of society, through charity-driven socioeconomic measures.

Together, with the acclaimed India FoodBanking Network (IFBN), the foundation introduced the concept of the food bank in Noida and Ghaziabad wherein a chain of donors is used for procurement of food supplies delivereddirectly to those most in need, thereby eliminating supply chain delays.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation also offers free medical aid to the poor in 18 villages around Noida and Ghaziabad by periodically-organized free health checks and camps, with the aim to reach out to those socially marginalised and under-served sections of society in a short span of time. It also aims to sensitize the youth towards the needs of the poor by getting them involved with the Foundation’s schemes and programs.

The Fight Against Malnutrition

The value of good nutrition can hardly be overstated. Well-developed cognitive abilities along with sound physical and mental health and a healthy attitude towards life add up to greater earning capacities in adulthood, and consequently, a stronger nation.

It has been observed that the average wage of stunted and malnourished individuals is nearly twenty percent less compared to their counterparts. The cumulative effect that a large malnourished section can have on a nation’s economy is, therefore, immense.

The above analysis must be a strong area of concern from India’s standpoint. The nation, despite riding a decade of high economic surge, has widely been ineffective to cut back malnutrition. The country, according to the World Bank, ranks below some of the poorest sub Saharan nations on the prevalence of underweight children.

India faces a horde of issues when it comes to malnutrition, so much so that the Integrated Child Development System (ICDS), India’s central policy framework that aims to fight malnutrition, has been rendered partially ineffective.

It’s a little ironical that India does not suffer as much from shortage of production and poverty as from the lack of well-organised food delivery and nutrition. Food subsidies and special schemes are launched from time to time, but various demographic, socioeconomic, and geographical inequalities reduce their impact.

Another issue is the widening chasm between the classes. India’s strides on the economic front have not produced an equitable growth model. The already rich have benefited while the poor have little to draw out of it. The divide has created a palpable societal imbalance favouring the urban rich.

Furthermore, malnutrition cannot be treated with one yardstick across the country. There are several local and demographic factors at play. Certain states, for example, have been traditionally more predisposed towards child malnutrition. Others are affected to varying degrees and exhibit vastly different statistics for boys and girls. A one-size-fits-all approach cannot make a viable solution.

Realising the need for India to adopt a more inclusive approach on malnutrition, the Ponty Chadha Foundation has introduced a set of measures aimed at countering the issue with a modern, empirical approach.

The foundation has set out a plan to identify prevalent local factors to be met with tailor-made food banks. A food bank is a typical supply chain,which takes local influences into account and delivers quality controlled supplies directly to a pre-identified demographic.

The first of the chains is set up in Noida and Ghaziabad and has won the backing of the India FoodBanking Network (IFBN). The Foundation now looks at expansion into other parts.