Sailesh Shrestha of Khotang and Dhanamaya Gharti of Rolpa have been selected for the scholarship this year. The group signed agreement to this effect with the students and Patan Academy of Health Sciences on Saturday. [break]
As per the contract, the students must work for four years in their respective districts after the completion of their MBBS degree. The Bhatbhateni Group will contribute Rs 3.5 million per student and the students and PAHS will also bear some amount.
Min Bahadur Gurung, managing director of Bhatbhateni Group, said the scholarship was set up with the objective of closing the gap between rural and urban areas in Nepal in terms of health services.
“As I am from one of the most remote districts in the country, I have experienced the dearth of medical services available to people in rural and remote areas,” Gurung, who was born and brought up in Khotang district in eastern Nepal, told myrepublica.com. He moved to Kathmandu at the age of 19 years to pursue his higher education and work.
Though a remarkable process has been made in Nepal´s health sector in the last five decades, the inequality in terms of access to health care still persists.
“The child mortality rate in remote hill and mountain districts is almost double than that of urban districts,” said Dr Arjun Karki, vice chancellor of PAHS. Majority of capable doctors are either limited to urban areas or working abroad.
PAHS has been trying to address their problem by supporting students from remote areas who will be more willing and likely to provide health care to disadvantaged people living in remote or rural areas.
Bhatbhateni Group has committed to provide such scholarships either annually or on alternate years depending on its capability. Apart from this scholarship, the group is also involved other community activities.
It has built community gardens in Maharajgunj Chowk and Bhatbhateni near its super market complexes and provided ambulance to Tamu Sewa Samiti. It is also building an emergency block at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and has helped in the construction of temples, among others.
On top of it, the group has been giving priority to poor and conflict-hit people.
“Out of our 750 staffers, about 100 are from poor and conflict-hit families,” Gurung said. The group is also supporting the education of around 12 children of needy employees.
In association with Nagarik daily and Kathmandu University, the group has pledged to contribute Re 1 per plastic bag paid by customers to an environment fund which will initiate various activities in the future. It is among the largest taxpayers in the nation and the top taxpayer among the retail sector.
The group has come a long way since Gurung established Bhatbhateni Cold Store in the early 1980s. The cold store was upgraded into Bhatbhateni Super Market at Bhatbhateni about a decade later.
The group is initiating a number of CSR activities so that it can give back something to the community that sustains it, according to Gurung.
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