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THE Lifeline Express chugged into Meramandalli, a tribal village in Orissa’s Dhenkanal district. It was a typical rural morning. A colourful tent fluttered in the breeze. Hundreds of men, women and children hung around. They had brought their loved ones for medical attention and with this train arrived hope. Since 1991, Tata Steel’s doctors and medical staff have been boarding the Lifeline Express to conduct medical camps in remote villages of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal. The company’s doctors perform surgeries on patients with eye, ear, orthopaedic and cleft lip problems.

There is medical help on hand for the disabled as well. Sanjay Bhutia, an 11-month baby had a white spot in his eye. His parents, Pabana and Gita Bhutia who live in Korian village, Dhenkanal district, took him to the local primary health centre. The doctor had no time for their son. The Bhutias did not have the money to take him to a city hospital either. So when they heard that the Lifeline Express had arrived, the Bhutias quickly caught a bus and rushed little Sanjay to the train. The baby has been operated and will be discharged after a day. “I hope he will be all right now,” says Gita with a smile. About a year ago, Tapas Kumar Sahu, a high school student living in Paunasudha, a village in Jajpur district, was hit in the eye with a stick while playing.

He found his vision gradually diminishing. His worried father, Nakula Sahu, then heard an announcement about the Lifeline Express on Doordarshan. He dashed off to the camp with his son. Tapas has been operated and will be discharged shortly. Fifty-five- year old Krishna Patra of Jajpur-Keonjhar is a construction labourer in Bihar. Family and neighbours noticed something affecting his eyesight on his recent visit home. A visit to the Satya Sai Sabha Seva Samiti confirmed that he had cataract. The Samiti sent him to the Meramandalli camp. He, too, has been successfully operated. Four coaches of Lifeline Express serve as a hospital. They are air-conditioned and equipped with electron microscopes, a pathology lab, documentation unit and a modern operation theatre with three operating tables. There is an auditorium to train local doctors in the latest surgical techniques.

While Tata Steel provides the medical services, the infrastructure is owned by Impact India, an international NGO that works for the disabled. Impact mooted the idea of a hospital train taking its cue from a suggestion made by late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Sir John Wilson, the founder of Impact International. Lifeline Express is a partnership between Tata Steel, Impact, the Indian Railways, the ministry of health and local administrations. Indian Railways maintains the coaches. Tata Steel advertises its medical services available on the train and its route in newspapers, radio and TV. Leaflets are also distributed. The district administration, primary health centres and NGOs are roped in. For the Meramandalli camp, the Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS) was helped by the National Institute of Orthopaedic Health (NIOH), in Ulatpur, near Bhubaneshwar. Every camp is for four weeks. A ninemember team of three surgeons, four nurses and one pathologist are on duty.

Four to eight days are allotted for eye, ear, orthopaedic and plastic surgery. More time is set aside for eye and ear infections since these are the most common. Each camp costs Tata Steel around Rs 35 lakhs. Every case is carefully examined in the outpatients department (OPD), an open enclosure outside the train. Two huge halls in a godown double up as male and female wards. Blood and other pathological tests are conducted. After surgery the patient is kept under observation for a day. For a cataract patient, there are no sutures to be removed, and hence no follow-up is necessary.