ACC, the cement and building materials company of the diversified Adani Portfolio, along with the Adani Foundation, through its Meri Sangini, Meri Magdarshika (MSMM) Programme in Bargarh, Odisha, is ensuring that government healthcare entitlements do not just remain on paper, but reach the people who need them most, when they need them most.
Murli Mehar is 81 years old. He lives in Bargarh, Odisha, on a pension that barely covers his basic requirements. When his health began to deteriorate despite initial treatment at a government hospital, his family found themselves facing the question of how to pay for any adverse situations. He was diagnosed with Basal Cell Carcinoma. The prognosis without proper treatment was bleak. And the cost of care at a private facility was entirely beyond their reach.
It was at this point that the Adani Foundation’s Sangini stepped in. A community health facilitator operating under the MSMM Programme, Sangini did what the healthcare system ignored; she sat with the family, understood their situation, and helped them identify a clear path forward. While Murli had an Ayushman card, he lacked the knowledge of how to use it, along with the support required to navigate the documentation that stood between him and the cashless treatment he was entitled to. The Sangini provided both.
With her guidance, Murli was admitted to a private hospital and received the full course of treatment he needed. The total cost of Rs. 1.18 lakh was covered entirely under the Ayushman scheme, without a single rupee of out-of-pocket expenditure for the family. For an 81-year-old man on a fixed pension, and for a family that had braced itself for the worst, this was not a small feat. It was the difference between life and an impossible choice.
Murli’s story is a reminder that availability of healthcare in India does not mean it is always understood and accessible to people. People usually need someone to help them find it. In Bargarh, that someone is Adani Foundation’s Sangini. And for Murli Mehar and his family, that made all the difference.
