Jamshedpur Tata Steel in association with Quality Council of India (QCI) and the Institute of Trans-Disciplinary (TDU) today organised a workshop on traditional community health practices. The event was organised at Tribal Culture Centre, Sonari, Jamshedpur. Ms Lakshmikutty, who has received the country’s fourth highest civilian honour the Padma Shri Award for her breakthrough in practising traditional medicine, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Mr Sourav Roy, Chief, CSR, Tata Steel and Mr Niloy Mitter, Head, Health & TQM, CSR, Tata Steel were also present on the occasion.
Over 80 traditional community healthcare practitioners from Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, etc converged at the workshop, which is part of Lok Swasthya Parampara Samvardhan Abhiyan— an initiative spearheaded by QCI and TDU. The initiative is aimed at strengthening the role of traditional community health practices in primary healthcare.
The workshop underlined the need of bestowing policy recognition to traditional community healthcare practi
tioners. Traditional Health Practitioners (TCHP) play a vital role in meeting the health care needs, especially of the far flung, unreached rural populations.
Ms Lakshmikutty shared the composition of her potions she has been making since last 45 years to treat snake bite cases and other ailments. Mr Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel, felicitated Ms Lakshmikutty for her notable contribution to traditional healing practices.
The event also marked the launch of Tamras pilot project. Under the project, Tamras, a low-cost water purifier, will be given to selected households in Layalam Panchayat in Jharkhand. Later, Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS), a CSR arm of Tata Steel, will undertake a study to evaluate disease prevalence in these households.
