From Selling Vegetables to Building a Hospital: The Padma Shri-Winning Journey of Subasini Mistry
Widowed at 24 and left without resources, Subasini Mistry vowed that no poor person in her village would die without treatment. Working as a domestic help and selling vegetables, she saved money to educate her son as a doctor and build Humanity Hospital in Haspukur, which now treats hundreds of patients daily. Honored with the Padma Shri, she continues to expand healthcare access for the underprivileged, including a new unit in the Sundarbans
Kolkata: The Humanity Hospital in Haspukur village stands taller than any government hospital in India. Its foundation was laid not by a politician, leader, or business tycoon but by a visionary woman who vowed never to let a poor person from her village die without treatment.
Meet 75-year-old Padma Shri Subasini Mistry, born into a poor farmer’s family. Married off at the tender age of 12, she was widowed just 12 years later. Her husband, Sadhan Chandra Mistry, died of gastroenteritis at the age of only 34. “It was way back in 1971 that we lost him to a very common ailment. Back then, we had no money to take him to the doctor. This incident moved me and made me promise myself to make healthcare facilities available to the poor,” said Subasini.
With four children to fend for, life was not a cakewalk. She first placed her eldest son in an orphanage and kept the remaining three with her. She then moved to Dhapa and began working as a domestic help in the Park Circus area. To supplement her income and save money for the hospital she aspired to build, she also started selling vegetables under the Park Circus bridge.
She began saving money, using a portion to fund the education of her son, Ajoy, who is now a doctor. The rest she used to buy a plot of land in Haspukur, where she built Humanity Hospital, which was inaugurated on March 9, 1996.
“I have heard that the government is honoring me. It feels nice. If you have a clean heart and a vision to do something worthwhile, God will definitely stand by you,” said the 75-year-old to eNewsroom.
Subasini was one of two recipients of the prestigious Padma Shri award from Bengal in 2018.
“We have 35 beds in our hospital and treat all disorders except for open-heart surgery and neurosurgery. On average, we treat about 150 people in the outpatient department daily. Though we charge OPD patients ₹50, we often waive the fee for those who are truly poor,” said her son, Ajoy, who is also the administrative head of the hospital.
They have also set up another unit at Gosaba in the Sundarbans to provide medical facilities to villagers in remote areas of Bengal.
