It is commonly seen that poor village people who lead a hand to mouth existence do not visit a health care centre until their disease takes a turn for the worse. Can you blame them? At the lower end of the economic ladder, taking a day off to visit a doctor - especially one who is located a day's trek away - can mean keeping your family hungry. This is why if you desire to make a difference to the health status of rural poor, you need to reach out to them in their surroundings.

We have discovered that contact is best established through a revolving clinic staffed by a caring doctor and well equipped with essential medicines. This reality led us to partner the K P Sanghvi Charitable Trust of Pawapuri Tirthdham (Sirohi) to launch a community services project targeting remote villages not served by a government-funded Primary Health Centre. We are grateful to the Children's Hope India (USA) for meeting the cost of medicines distributed by one of these mobile clinics.

Since its commissioning in April 2004, the project has grown to include four mobile clinics which together visit over 40 villages on  a rotational basis. During the fiscal 2008-09, the clinics conducted 31663 field consultations and referred 563 patients to our hospitals at Mount Abu or Abu Road.