Meet the Haryana doctor who runs a free clinic and community kitchen for the poor
Dr Rajesh Mehta and his family organise a community kitchen every week to feed wholesome meals to over 400 children and also provide them with stationery.
Dr Rajesh Mehta’s brother was his greatest inspiration to do social work. However, after the tragic loss of his brother in a road accident, 31 years ago, Rajesh turned towards doing social work to honour his brother. He went on to open many hospitals in Hisar, Haryana, where he runs a free homeopathy clinic for the poor.
"In 1989, my elder brother, who was my inspiration, died in an accident. Deep sorrow gradually led me to believe that it was time for me to give something back to society, after all, we always work for our own selves,” Rajesh tells The New Indian Express.
In 1994, his parents founded a trust, Shri Sai Shakti Charitable Trust through which they focused on less-privileged children, ensuring that social service runs in the family’s blood.
“Since then, every week we ensure that poor and needy children get a nourishing meal once a day. We organise weekly community kitchens, mostly on Thursdays, for such children at Sai Mandir in Sector 13 of Hisar,” says Dr Mehta.
As part of the community kitchen service, they distributed wholesome food, which include vegetables, lentils, rice, rotis, puris, a sweet dish and fruits to over 400 children in the age group of 5-15 years.
Joining him are his sister, Sangeeta Sethi and elder brother Naresh Mehta.
“We give them notebooks, pencils, pens and all other items besides gloves, shoes, clothes and winter wear so that they can study well and do not feel deprived," he said, according to IndiaTimes.
“We have been organising health and blood donations camps and also providing free medicines to patients who really want it, besides whatever financial help we can offer,’’ Sangeeta Sethi added.
The hospital that is run by the family serves about 20 needy patients. A woman doctor was employed to run the clinic, said Rajesh adding that the family also receives donations from people, helping them to keep the philanthropy work afloat.
Do you have an interesting story to share? Please write to us at [email protected]. To stay updated with more positive news, please connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan