At 100, ex-army man gifts hospital to Raj village

Helping hand

For Rao Kabool Singh, a World War II veteran who will 100 this weekend, it has been a life of service with the army man choosing to take up the cause of downtrodden in rural areas after retiring in 1962.

Setting up a 15 bedded hospital at Dudavas village in Jaipur district, is his latest achievement.

While the hospital was built by his grandsons Madan Mohan and Krishan Mohan, who run a car rental service, it was the centurion who conceived the idea.

"We have land in this village and we used to come here. Babaji (Kabool Singh) saw the plight of people and expressed his desire to establish a hospital in the village," Madan Mohan said.

Kabool Singh hails from Alwar district and retired as havildar.

He first served in the army supply corps and later in the 13 Kumaon regiment.
Besides healthcare, Kabool Singh has campaigned against gender bias, child marriage and denial of education to girls in rural areas.

“We have fulfilled our grandfather's dream. However, our connection with this region goes beyond that. We have already adopted two government schools and plan to extend support to other schools," Mohan added.

The hospital will soon have two doctors and a gynaecologist besides the paramedical staff, he said.

“This is just a start, we plan to upgrade it to 30 beds very soon. Also, we will install an X-ray machine and we hope the hospital will begin functioning within two months," he added.

With no proper healthcare facilities available, the villagers had to travel several kilometres to reach the nearest clinic in case of a medical emergency.

"Earlier, we had no facilities except the anganwadi worker for childbirth and a small ayurvedic clinic. For anything serious we would rush to Paota or Kotputli," said Ashok, a villager.