Siliguri Welfare Organisation came into existence in the year 1975, urged by the natural humanitarian feelings of a handful of unemployed young men. They started rendering yeoman’s service by way of collecting public donations to supply medicines and resorted to organizing voluntary blood donations for the under privileged patients of Siliguri Sub-Divisional hospital. A couple of years later, in 1
977 this voluntary community-based organization found its proper moorings with its office at Hospital More, Siliguri and got registered under Societies Registration Act 1868. It started off with the running of a charitable dispensary from within its office premises. Over the last 36 years its health care services got ramified into professionally maintained, well- equipped Pathology Clinic, and X-Ray, E.C.G, Physio-Therapy units under a common roof. All these low-cost health service sectors are being run on no-profit, no-loss basis catering even free services to patients living beneath the poverty level. More over, morbidity and mortality rates of village kids living under sub-prime hygienic conditions and thriving on low-calorie intake necessitated launching a protracted Child Immunisation Programme , mostly in the forest and hilly tracts of North Bengal for years together. Sheer goodwill and unstinted patronage from people cutting across community divide has always been the mainstay of its palpable existence. Bolstered by such overwhelming support base, its members could earn wide accolade by saving lives and properties in times of exigencies like devastating flood, earthquake in the hilly tracts of West Bengal, search & rescue operations in the River Teesta or in the aftermath of the collossal Gaisal train accident or even in leading an intense scientific campaign against the threat of a killer viral epidemic during 2004. This organization has to its credit the rare prestige of being a community leader in launching several people’s movements for social justice, be it pertaining to the preservation of environment or basic rights to lives & livelihood in recent times.
