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Spurred by the ecstatic response of the Mumbaiites to previous exhibitions of the Lifeline Express (LLE), Impact India decided to capitalize on the presence of the LLE in Mumbai to organise a third exhibition, at CST station, for a week beginning 22 January, 2003. Testament to its popularity and power of word-of-mouth publicity, over 3000 people from all over the city came to see the LLE.
The main motivation behind this public display was to give the many medical experts interested in the Lifeline Express a hands-on tour of the hospital train, wherein they could see the facilities and understand the raison d'etre of the LLE inside the train itself.
To this end the display was a success, with several doctors and surgeons from leading hospitals and nursing homes having visited the train. Several top government officials including Mr. Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Social Justice and Sports, Government of Maharashtra, Mr. P.D. Karandikar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Maharashtra State Rural Development Corporation, Dr. Subhash Salunke, Directorate General, Public Health Services, Maharashtra and Mr. Madhav Pathak, Divisional Regional Manager, Central Railway also visited the LLE.
Over 200 employees of Tata Power also visited the train, led by Mr. Bapat and Mrs. Baliga, both of whom have been instrumental in planning the forthcoming 59th Lifeline Express Project at Lonavla, from February 15 to March 20, 2003. One of the highlights of this display was the visit by an excited group of 45 children from the Dilkhush School for the Mentally Challenged. Wide eyed by all the medical gadgetry of the operation theatre, the children were bubbling with curiosity. When shown a short film of a dance drama about the LLE conducted by school children at the Chiplun Project, the children began to sing along with the tunes! |
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