A medical practitioner in Kadapa has carved a name for herself by offering medical check-ups to the poor for a consultation fee of ₹10. Dr. Noori Parveen has become a household name for thousands of families by making medical care accessible to people who aren’t able to afford the expensive consultation fees at corporate hospitals.
It all started with children hailing from lower income and socio-economic groups bringing their sick siblings to her clinic in Kadapa city. “They can hardly afford ₹250 or ₹350 as consultation fee, and I thought I should reach out. It was then that I decided to charge a flat consultation fee of ₹10 from every patient,” Dr. Parveen told The Hindu .
In a special interview on the eve of International Women’s Day, she explained that her childhood ambition was not only to become a doctor, but also following in the footsteps of her grandfather Noor Mohammad, a Communist leader in the 1980s, and her father Mohammad Maqbool, a businessman with a charitable bent of mind.
Dr. Parveen studied up to Class IV in Challapalli of Krishna district, and then moved to Vijayawada for pursuing high school in the Urdu medium. Upon getting a medical seat under the minority quota, she joined the MBBS course at the Fatima Institute of Medical Sciences (FIMS), Kadapa.
Her social welfare activities started while at college, when she and her classmates reached out to the local orphanage and old age homes, which continued even after she started her medical practice and launched the Dr. Noori’s Health Care initiative. She soon became known among patients as the “₹10 doctor”.
Dr. Parveen recently launched a women’s health facility where gynaecology services are also offered for ₹10. “Most people with medical complications do not know whom to contact. I refer them to the concerned specialists in neurology, orthopaedics or gynaecology, again, for just ₹10,” Dr. Noori explained.
Though her gesture has brought laurels, she struggles to make ends meet. “Unlike my peers in the medical field, I still ask my father for money to meet my needs, and have no qualms in depending on my spouse after marriage. I am here to serve society, not to make money,” she said.
