On Bakhrahat Road in Rasapunja, South 24 Parganas, a white multi-storey building rises from what was once vacant land. The plaster is fresh, the glass still catches the morning sun, and though the grounds are yet to be landscaped, the building already has a name and a purpose. This is the new nursing college set up by Senco Gold & Diamonds through its P.C. Sen Charitable Trust. It’s not open yet, but its promise already runs through the lanes of nearby villages.
A few steps away, that promise is already at work. Prabhat Diagnostics, the Trust’s low-cost healthcare centre, sees a steady stream of visitors. An elderly man is helped up the ramp. A mother clutches a test slip for her child. The signage outside is clear in both Bengali and English: A CSR Initiative of Senco Gold & Diamonds. Inside, tests that once meant a day-long trip to the city and a heavy bill are now done close to home, at prices families here can manage.
And when families can’t come to the centre, the centre goes to them. A mobile diagnostic van bearing the name “প্রভাত ডায়েগনস্টিক” navigates the narrow roads of Bakhrahat, carrying basic healthcare into villages that rarely see it.
This dual project is about more than buildings and equipment. It’s about people.
Mr. Aloke Biswas, Vice President, P.C. Sen Charitable Trust, walks through the empty classrooms of the nursing college and sees them full. “We will soon launch our General Duty Assistant (GDA) course,” he says. “It’s a short program, but it changes lives. A young woman learns bedside care, and suddenly she has a skill, a salary, and a place in the healthcare system. That’s where change begins.”
For Mr. Shubhankar Sen, CEO of Senco Gold & Diamonds, the college is the most sustainable kind of giving. “Skill development is the most lasting form of CSR,” he explains. “When we train women in nursing and healthcare support, we aren’t just filling jobs. We’re strengthening every clinic, every hospital, every home that needs care in this region.”
His vision is echoed by Ms. Joita Sen, Director, Senco Gold & Diamonds, who looks beyond hospital walls. “Healthcare is critical, but so is opportunity,” she says. “We see huge potential in training women for retail management and child care. These are dignified careers. They match how our towns are growing. A woman who can run a store or manage a daycare centre can change the economy of her entire household.”
Back at Prabhat Diagnostics, the phone rings. 91471 06936. Another appointment, another test, another small crisis made manageable because care is now a rickshaw ride away, not a day’s wages.
The nursing college will open its doors soon. When it does, the students trained in its classrooms may well walk across to Prabhat Diagnostics for their practicals. The two halves of this project will meet: education feeding healthcare, healthcare supporting education.
On Bakhrahat Road, the P.C. Sen Charitable Trust isn’t just building infrastructure. It’s building a cycle where a daughter learns to care for patients, a mother gets an affordable blood test, and a family finds that both health and hope are finally within reach.
