The 35 year old Sadhan Mistry’s life could have been saved if a doctor was then available in the village. His 23 year young widow then told everyone that she would educate one of her children to become a doctor and open a free hospital for the villagers. That happened on April 13, 1971.

To feed her four minor children, ranging from four to eight years old,   the landless Subhasini took to vending vegetables in her Hanspukur village, 20 km away Kolkata in South 24 Parganas district. 

While her two daughters assisted her, her eldest son went to labour in others’ fields. Her youngest son Ajoy washed dishes at a local tea stall. Once when he broke a glass, the owner hit him badly and threw him out of work. His ragged clothes earned him the nick name “Dustbin boy”. 

The dalit boy got fortunately admitted in an orphanage in the nearby Bishnupur town. Excelling in studies, Ajoy passed his secondary education with high marks. He then went to study medicine at the Calcutta Medical College, with the aid of a German scholarship. Completing his MBBS in 1995, Ajoy then did his MD after two years.  

His mother had saved Rupees one lakh from her 20 years of hard toil. She purchased a village plot to build her dream hospital. In a small thatched roof she started a clinic with the help of her son. 

With the Rs 80,000 donations Ajoy received from friends and well wishers, he laid foundation for his mother’s dream Humanity Hospital for the villagers on Feb 5, 1995. With generous contributions by donors, gradually the hospital took a better shape. 

The three-storied, 15,000 sq ft, 50 bedded multi-speciality hospital is now fully equipped, offering free medical treatment to thousands of poor patients in and around his village. Their goal is to prevent death of any patient due to lack of money.  Humanity Hospital has become a government-approved Covid-19 hospital. 

When the devastating storm Amphan hit the Sunderbans, Ajoy took his team to Santigachi, a remote West Bengal village, to offer free medical relief. That paved way to open a branch hospital there. He has trained the locals to care the health of the fellow villagers. He also plans to start an orphanage and old age home for the poor.

Actor Amir Khan had highlighted the services of this hospital in his episode number four of his Satyamev Jayate. 

“I have felt poverty and humiliation; it prompted me to try to make a difference in society,” says Dr. Ajoy Mistry. “Strong determination, with honesty, will fulfil any dream,” he adds. 

“I will not live forever. But the hospital will always give free medical treatment to people in need,” proudly says Subhasini Chandra Mistry.  She was honoured with Padmashri Award in 2018 for her humanitarian work. 

“We should be concerned not only about the health of individual patients, but also the health of our entire society.” - Ben Carson