Addressing a press conference today, members of the recently formed Union Carbide Poison Victims’ Healthcare Rights Front, announced the launch of a peaceful campaign to keep the Sambhavna Clinic open by the beneficiaries and staff of the Clinic after it closes tomorrow due to shortage of funds. Demanding early resolution of Sambhavna Trust’s application for registration under FCRA, the Healthcare Rights Front will lead an indefinite dharna from January 1, 2025 in the premises of the Clinic that has been providing free medical care to the survivors of the Union Carbide disaster for the last 28 years.

Sharing copies of a letter that the Healthcare Rights Front has sent to the Home Minister on December 16, 2024, Nathuram Soni, a survivor receiving care at the Clinic, said, “The Sambhavna Clinic runs with small donations from thousands of ordinary individuals from over 40 countries and these donations are not reaching the Clinic because the Home Ministry is taking too long to grant registration under FCRA. We have drawn the attention of the Home Minister to the unacceptable delay in granting registration under FCRA to the Sambhavna Trust whose application is pending since early February 2023.”

Dr. Satinath Sarangi, employed by the Sambhavna Trust as a consultant and a signatory to the letter to the Home Minister said, “Sambhavna Clinic’s specialized care based on integration of modern medicine with ayurveda and yoga systems of healing has been found to be particularly effective for the multi-systemic injuries caused by exposure to methyl isocyanate and other poisons of Union Carbide. The closure of the Clinic will seriously impact the health of the over 37, 000 patients registered for long term care. It will also deprive a population of over 30, 000 survivors of the disaster of the benefits of community health work that includes eradication of malaria and dengue, early detection of cervical cancer and reduction of TB incidence.”

Describing her positive experience as a person receiving care at the Sambhavna Clinic, Bano Bee, one of the leaders of the Healthcare Rights Front said, “It is because of Sambhavna Clinic’s special care that I, despite the many diseases that Union Carbide has given me and despite my age, am able to move about. Like me, thousands have benefited from Sambhavna and hundreds of them have already written postcards to the Home Minister and I am sure many more will join the dharna. We will not let the government put a restriction on compassion and we will make sure that the Sambhavna Trust gets its FCRA registration soon. We are appealing to people all over the world to help us make it a happy New Year for survivors of the worst industrial disaster who still need specialized medical care.”