Lifeline Express in Orissa — A unique effort in health services by Tata Steel
February 22, 2005

The Lifeline Express Project organised by Tata Steel has been inaugurated at the Jajpur Road Railway Station Siding by the chief minister of Orissa, Naveen Patnaik. The other dignitaries present during the inaugural ceremony were P C Ghadei, minister of finance, Debashis Nayak, minister of state for information and public relations, sports and youth services, Pramilla Mallick, minister for women and child development and Sanchita Mohanty, member MLA. The organisation of the Lifeline Express in Orissa by Tata Steel reiterates the century of partnership towards progress between the duo.

While inaugurating the project, the chief minister thanked Tata Steel for bringing the Life Line Express to the district of Jajpur .

The project will run till March 24, 2005 in this area. This is the third such initiative by Tata Steel in Orissa after the projects at Chatrapur, Ganjam in 1997 and at Daitary Railway Siding, Bamnipal in 1998 where we reached out to over 6000 patients with various forms of operable disabilities.

The Lifeline Express epitomises an international initiative, which began in 1981 in England to prevent and cure avoidable disablement. In 1991, Tata Steel got involved with the Lifeline Express movement in India and took the mobile hospital to the most remote corners of our country. The current project is the seventh time that the company has been associated with it since its inception and the maximum times by a single corporate house.

Lifeline Express — world’s first hospital on rails, offers on the spot diagnostic, medical and surgical interventions to the disabled, free of cost. Promoted by Impact India this hospital on rails shares miracles of modern medicine with the villagers of India, a large majority of whom are unable to gain access to medical practitioners. The hospital has four coaches, fully equipped and air-conditioned for pre and post operative care.

Tata Steel’s effort towards spreading the message, mobilising the patients and facilitating the operations is spearheaded by the Tata Steel Rural Development Society. Once they arrive at the Express the company’s doctors take over.

The project would cover one month of actual operative time. We have set up a facility of a 300-bed referral hospital for pre and post operative and in patient care unit. The operative unit will take care of over 1,500 surgeries that are likely to be done and in patient unit shall take care of 5,000 needy patients and their attendants in the OPD. Patients with operable orthopedic (post-polio deformities) disabilities, hearing related disorders, cleft lip and eye-related operable disabilities would be given corrective surgeries and appropriate aids and appliances.

H.M. Nerurkar, vice president of Kalinga Nagar Project, gave the welcome address during the function . A N Singh, deputy managing director (corporate service), Tata Steel thanked the chief minister and other dignitaries for being present in the function and making the Life Line Express successful.