Lifeline Express to turn 25, needs more volunteers badly

The Lifeline Express, which leaves Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) every August to provide medical assistance to rural India, will turn 25 this year. However the number of doctors volunteering for the service has remained the same throughout.

General manager G.C. Agarwal said that three coaches, where surgeries take place, have been increased to seven but the need of doctors onboard the train still remains the same. “If we had more doctors I am sure Impact Foundation, which operates the train, would have beeen able to run the service for a longer period and help would reach more people in need,” said Mr Agarwal.

This year, the first leg of the project will last from August 2-22, when the train will be stationed at Bhatkal in Karnataka and make its way to Assam, Rajasthan, Orissa, Punjab, Telangana and finally Madhya Pradesh in April next year. According to the foundation, a group of 50 personnel have been allotted for each of the eight areas where the train will be stopping. These include doctors, nurse, and anaesthesiologists.

These numbers are low considering the innumerable surgeries performed in the operation theatre of this mobile hospital. “The foundation works on the basis of volunteer work and funds come from money raised from citizens who are able to contribute,” said Mr Agarwal.

The hospital on the railway tracks was founded as far back as 1991, but officials said that, with the burgeoning population and the dire need to reach villages where afflicted people hike to the closest city for good healthcare, running the service has been quite a task.

“We have to manage the schedules of the doctors who volunteer with us and still reach the villages in the season during which they expect us every year,” said an official from the foundation.