Santosh Lad providing medical aid at doorstep with his ‘Clinic on wheels ‘

Milind Dharmasena

Bengaluru: Fruits are distributed, blood donation camps are held or simply a huge cake is cut to mark birthdays or birth anniversaries of leaders by their well-wishers. However, former minister and Congress leader Santosh S Lad chose to do something different keeping in mind the pandemic to mark the 77th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi this year.

Lad launched three mobile health vans named after AICC President Sonia Gandhi and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in his Kalaghatgi constituency. `‘The clinic on wheels ‘’ , perhaps the first of its kind in the country, has been designed to provide well equipped professional medical aid besides offering Covid tests and treatments.
for blood pressure, Typhoid, Malaria, Dengue and other ailments .

Speaking to Bangalore Mail, Lad said: “I want to make my Kalaghatgi constituency free from all malaise and it should become a model one for others in the country. After both the Centre and the state governments failed to keep COVID in control, I decided to do something at the earliest for the welfare of my people before the Third wave sets in.”

Lad’s earlier venture after the second lockdown restrictions were eased was to open free eight canteens in Bellary district and Kalaghatgi to provide meals for one time of the day to the poor.