A cab driver, who had sold offfour taxis and wife's ornaments to build a hospital on the southern fringes of city, has now offered the facility to the state government to turn it into a quarantine centre for suspected COVID-19 patients.Md Saidul Laskar, who had thrown open the 50-bed hospital at Punri village in Baruipur a few years ago, following the death of his younger sister, said "fighting the pandemic takes precedence over everything else"."I built the hospital on a plot of land I had purchased years ago and named it after my sister, Marufa. There were days when I and my wife ate puffed rice to save up for the hospital. I had to sell my four yellow taxis and my wife Shamima's jewellery, too. We would supervise the construction work, brick by brick," Laskar said on Thursday.Marufa died of pneumonia in 2004.Maintaining that the hospital had been treating over 300 patients every day at its outdoor and emergency wards, the 45-year-old cab driver said he had been trying to gather funds to procure advanced medical equipment for the facility.Laskar, however, put his plans on hold following the coronavirus outbreak and decided to offer the hospital for setting up quarantine units."After discussing the idea with my wife and close friends, I approached the district officials with the proposal to turn my hospital into a quarantine centre."The officials assured me that the proposal had been forwarded to the health department and the chief minister's office and a decision would be taken soon," he said.Laskar, who has also contributed Rs 5,000 to the state government's relief fund, said 10 paramedic employees at the hospital can be trained to handle coronavirus cases.A senior official of South 24 Parganas district, where his village is located, said the building meets the basic criteria for setting up a quarantine centre."The final nod, however, has to come from top... We are thankful that Laskar has offered his hospital at this hour of crisis," the official added.
