A sexagenarian skin specialist in Gaya has been doling out Rs 300 each to 115 elderly and 25 differently abled persons every month.
Sanket Narayan Singh distributes the pension on the last day of every month at his clinic near Gaya-Bodhgaya bypass road. He has been doing so in memory of his only son, Aditya Narayan Nishu. Aditya died in a road accident near village Ganjhas on the Gaya-Fatehpur road, around 5km east of Gaya, on October 15, 2012. Sanket began his pension scheme on December 19, 2013, his son's birth anniversary.
He has set criteria for beneficiaries of the old-age pension - they should not be under 60 years of age. There is no age bar for the differently abled. "Either, I personally enquire about the pension claimants or send someone to the given address," Singh said. Assisting him are his employees Amit Kumar, Bhushan Singh, Ravi Kumar, Manish and Shivnath.
Most of his beneficiaries have nobody to look after them. Sushma Chakrabarty (80) of Bengali Colony, Binda Devi (68) of Gewal Bigha, Mokina Khatoon (70) of Iqbal Nagar and Maimun Khatoon (65) of Gewal Bigha receive monthly pension on a regular basis. Only Binda among them has a granddaughter aged eight, who too gets Rs 300 a month,on humanitarian grounds .
Reena Kumari (25), whose legs are afflicted by polio, says the pension money she gets is of great help to her family. "I don't just get pension, but also meal and breakfast sometimes," she said.
Nandkishore Prasad looks after the pension scheme records. "We maintain records of old-age and the physically challenged persons. Identity cards have also been issued," he said.
A native of Dumri village under Khaira police station (earlier Jalalpur police station) in Saran district, Sanket did his MBBS from Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital, Gaya, in 1980. He worked with Gaya-based skin specialist Lakshmi Narayan Sinha from 1982 to 1995 and then set up his own clinic at a rented house in Gewal Bigha locality of Gaya.
When his clinic first came up, he provided consultancy free of cost to the needy twice a week. But the free service is now available daily. Everyday he examines over 150 patients, of which 30 40 get free consultancy. "I also aim to establish a primary school at Ganjhas village where my son died. I run a primary school at Bengali Colony near Police Lines since 2013. Over 150 students are enrolled there. I plan to set up an orphanage, old-age home and hospital," Singh said.
Sanket has two daughters and also brought home a girl who was abandoned by her mother on September 17, 2003. He named her Mili. Since then, he has been looking after Mili's studies.
Alok Kumar in Gaya
