Though Ludhiana is called the Manchester of Punjab with people having lavish lifestyles and deep pockets, yet there is no dearth of poor and needy in the city.

With little or no help from the state government, NGOs work relentlessly to help the needy.

One such organisation, Nikhil Singal Noble Trust, provides free medicines to the needy and sick at their doorstep. This is the first NGO in the city to provide anti-rabies injections and medicines at the Civil Hospital.

Established in 2008 in the memory of Nikhil Singal, a young boy who died on May 18, 2007, the trust is also imparting free education to 5,000 underprivileged children. Eastman Impex Group patronises the trust under the chairmanship of Jagdeep Singal (paternal uncle of Nikhil Singal).

Inspired by city industrialists Satish Gupta and Sunder Dass Dhamija, the NGO started serving patients at the Civil Hospital from February 7 this year.

Sunder Dass Dhamija said, “Patients with no or little means reach the Civil Hospital, so we suggested the NGO to open ‘Ek Ummeed’ a medicine centre for the underprivileged.”

Satish Gupta said, “The NGO has appointed Dr J S Sidhu as the doctor who provides medicines to the needy at the Civil Hospital.”

“We get 15-20 patients with dog-bite cases at the Civil Hospital every day. We provide five injections to each patient costing Rs 2,500. For avoiding misuse, I always take back the empty injection bottles from patients,” said the doctor.

The anti-rabies injections are given to a patient on the prescription of the doctor on the first, third, seventh, fourteenth and 28th day of the dog bite.

The NGO also helps needy patients admitted in the emergency ward.

Satiram, father of a sick child, said, “My child fell down from the roof yesterday. We are too poor to buy medicines. We filled a form here and got free medicine for my 8-year-old son.”

Dr Sidhu said, “We have distributed medicines worth Rs 70,000 (other than anti-rabies injections) to the needy.”

Expressing his satisfaction over the working of the NGO, Civil Hospital Senior Medical Officer Dr Harvinder Singh said, “Two NGOs Sewa Path and Sri Sathya Sai Sewa Organisation also provide medicines to poor patients. But this is the first time that an NGO is providing anti-rabies injections.”