MBBS graduate runs Rs 5 clinic in Tirunelveli to serve poor families
Tirunelveli: In a clinic tucked in an alley in Ambasamudram, Dr. R. Aathimaarimarudhu, 28, has been offering a rare assurance to cash-strapped families: treatment without the burden of cost.
For the past five years, the government-school alumnus from K Ramanathapuram village in Dindigul has provided free consultations to students of government, government-aided, and private schools. Families usually pay no more than Rs 30 for medicines.
Dr. Aathimaarimarudhu sees over 100 patients a week, spends nearly 12 hours a day at his clinic, and takes emergency calls at night. He owns neither a house nor a car. His monthly earnings of Rs 20,000–Rs 25,000 go toward daily expenses and rent for him and his mother.
“Those who come to me should never have to return without treatment simply because they cannot afford it,” he told TNIE.
His commitment stems from hardship. His parents, MGNREGS labourers, struggled to educate him and his two brothers. After his father died of prolonged illness, teachers and elder brother R. Sankar Pandian helped him complete MBBS at Tirunelveli Medical College during the Covid-19 second wave.
