People are queuing up in increasing numbers at a nature cure centre in Mourigram, Howrah, that has been offering affordable and quality healthcare since 1981.

The Indian Research Institute for Integrated Medicine (IRIIM), affiliated with the state government and recognised by the Centre as a research centre, uses acupuncture, yoga, naturopathy, diet therapy and physiotherapy to cure ailments like asthma, arthritis, spondylosis, back pain, shoulder pain, polio and facial paralysis.

When required, the centre integrates alternative methods of treatment with modern ones.

The objective is to use an integrated and multi-dimensional approach to create a cost-effective, eco-friendly and relatively safe healthcare system that will suit the common man’s pocket.

“The centre, for its uninterrupted research, has been recognised as a scientific and industrial research organisation by the Union ministry of science and technology,” said Debasish Bakshi, director and honorary secretary, of IRIIM.

The institute, which also runs a hospital with both indoor and outdoor facilities, will celebrate 25 years of its existence from December 8 to 10.

Among the various programmes lined up are talks on acupuncture, yoga, pranayama, traditional diagnosis and integrated medicines.

Dr Ranajit Memorial Hospital offers treatment in an environment-friendly method that helps inculcate a sense of well-being in patients.

Bakshi said that among those treated at the hospital were writer Udayan Ghosh, scientists Chinmoy Ghosh and Somesh Dasgupta and Maidan footballer Swarup Das.

“The hospital — named after Dr Ranajit Ghosh, a renowned doctor and social worker who died early — with an indoor wing is the one of its kind in eastern India,” Bakshi pointed out.

“We have also been running a drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centre named Pratyaya, which means confidence. Sponsored by the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment, it has been operational since 1993,” he added.

Elaborating on the centre’s mode of treatment, Bakshi said each and every patient has to be treated “with “utmost care and patience”.

The hospital also undertakes various programmes to spread awareness on nature therapy.

“We emphasise on an eco-friendly and healthy lifestyle to prevent diseases and also for follow-up treatment,” Bakshi said.