By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, September 14: Tibetan Delek Hospital was bestowed with the Second Anadi-Kamal Award by VHAI (Voluntary Health Association of India) on September 11 in Jaipur for its “outstanding contribution to social work and community development”.
The award is being instituted by VHAI in honour of Anadi Nath Mukherjee and Kamala Mukherjee for their extraordinary work in most challenging circumstances.
Anadi and Kamala Mukherjee were from families of illustrious Sanskrit scholars and Freedom fighters. Besides actively participating in Indian freedom struggle, they devoted their whole life to numerous social causes both before and after India’s independence.
Dharamsala based Tibetan Delek Hospital, a Tibetan refugee undertaking, has been bestowed with this year’s Anadi-Kamal Award for setting similar example of such a legacy.
Initiated by the founding Administrator late Mr Tsewang Rinchen Rishing in 1971, Tibetan Delek Hospital began with only five staff members, including an Indian part-time doctor.
Today it has grown into a full fledged general hospital with 37 full-time staff members in addition to the Administrator, the Chief Medical Officer and volunteer doctors providing much needed healthcare services to both local India and Tibetan population, the hospital’s current Administrator Mr Dawa Punkyi claims.
Speaking to Tibetan media today, Mr Dawa Phunkyi said, “We genuinely feel that this gesture of recognition is one of the greatest we have received during the 36 years of our service to the communities of Dharamsala” reiterating the statement from his award acceptance speech.
“Recognition of our work demonstrates that we Tibetans have capability to serve others even being in exile” Mr Phunkyi told the media gathering adding “This Award is recognition to the human values that we Tibetan people uphold in helping others”.
In his award-acceptance speech, Mr Dawa was quoted as saying, “We, at the Tibetan Delek Hospital, are committed to serving all who come to us, irrespective of their race, religion, gender, or country of origin. We promise to treat all people in a compassionate and respectful manner, and pledge to give the finest treatment commensurate with our resources, regardless of our clients’ social or financial status”.
In honouring the Hospital, VHAI has noted “one of the greatest achievements of the Tibetan Delek Hospital is that it aims at self-reliance through income generating projects and the nominal fee that is charged along with donations from supporters and contributors.
The limited resources and the lack of monetary support from the Indian Government have not deterred the team from achieving their objective of an increased outreach”.
VHAI is a non-profit society formed in 1970 and is a federation of 27 State Voluntary Health Associations linking together more than 4500 health care institutions and grassroots level community health programmes spread across India. Its prime objective is to “make health a reality for the people of India by promoting community health, social justice and human right related to the provision and distribution to health services in India”.
Dharamsala is the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile led by the exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
