A 12-foot idol made its way into Calcutta Medical College as post-graduate and post-doctoral trainees joined hands to start a Saraswati Puja on campus.

But the puja debut on the Academy Building foyer was not the reason why the auditorium inside had drawn a full house on Friday.

The young doctors were also taking a pledge to put their medical education to use in a social cause.

“We are taking on the responsibility of medical treatment of all 303 inmates of The Refuge, a 125-year-old orphanage at the Bowbazar-Amherst Street crossing,” Prithwish Sarkar, a third-year PGT of community medicine, announced to loud applause.

The medical students had been mulling over how to give back to society.

“One option was arranging a day of entertainment for the children. But we decided in favour of something lasting. When our initial plans hit hurdles, we decided to fall back on our own core competence — medical treatment,” he added.

Once he mooted the proposal, several batchmates, juniors and seniors joined from every department.

“There are 36 of us in the core group,” said Aishi Bhattacharya, a psychiatry PGT who led a group of singers in the opening act.

“The puja and our social work, which we have named Project Naibedya, are happening in association with the Medical College Ex-Students Association,” she added.

Some of the biggest names who passed out of the historic institute were attending the programme in a show of support to their juniors.

“We are Asia’s first medical college and are about to celebrate our 192nd anniversary. The college was born on January 28, 1835. Now, another January date will get added to the annals of our history because of your initiative,” said Medical College and Hospital Kolkata principal Indranil Biswas. He urged them to ensure the continuity of the project.

Cardiac surgeon Devi Shetty lauded the initiative from England and promised help from his Narayana Hospital.

“India will be the first country to dissociate health and wealth. We will achieve affordable healthcare in five to seven years,” he predicted.

Raja Dhar, head of pulmonology at CK Birla Hospitals, also sent a video message from Barcelona.

Sukumar Mukherjee, described as “the teacher of teachers”, and Swami Jnanalokananda, secretary, Swami Vivekananda Ancestral House, led the guests in lighting of the lamp.

A total of 109 children had come from the orphanage, built by Vidyasagar’s disciple Ananda Mohan Biswas.

The guests handed them each a school bag, a pencil box and a book by Swami Vivekananda. Also to be handed over is a laptop.

“This will help us provide them primary consultation by video conference in case of a requirement at odd hours. If hospitalisation is needed, we will take care of that too. Our seniors in the private sector have also promised help,” Prithwish said.

“The students have given the occasion of Saraswati puja a different dimension by reaching out to the orphaned children. We hope this becomes a trend-setter,” said cardiac surgeon Kunal Sarkar.

Student representatives from other medical colleges had been invited and Prithwish appealed to them to incorporate a social aspect to their college fests.

If Class II students Dia Mondol and Arandhya Bali were delighted with the gifts and the food packet, orphanage officials Badal Das and Rita Dutta were happy with the offer of help.

“We will now get medical advice seated at home,” they said.