Annual Report 2023-24

This report covers the period from April 2023 to March 2024. The period reflects recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many other businesses, the activities of the Cooperativeremained subdued.

OFFICE PREMISE

The Guwahati Club office premises are our current registered office. A physiotherapist currently shares part of the premises and contributes ₹5000 per month towards the rent. The premises in Jalukbari were recently refurbished (at no cost to the Society) to serve as a Knowledge & Information Hub, including Health & Welfare services for the students of Guwahati University. This is a collaborative project with the Northeast India Business Council (NEIBC), which has borne all renovation costs.

We continued to forge alliances with more Diagnostic Centres, Hospitals, Opticians, Dentists, and Pharmacies. During 2023-24, all Apollo Pharmacies in Guwahati, 2 Eye Clinics, 2 Laboratories in Nagaon and 4 in Guwahati, as well as one hospital in Moran, entered into a tie-up with the Society. The Thyrocare franchisee centre run in collaboration with Assam Healthcare Collaborative, established in November 2021, is operating in a low profile. The centre needs to be promoted, for which we need an appropriate business plan in the coming year. In the meantime, we have an alliance with PATHKIND, another All India Diagnostic Laboratory, and a franchisee is being set up at Barpeta in collaboration with Sanjeebani Hospital (run by a Co-operative Society).

TIE-UP

BENEFICIARY & BENEFITS

We don’t have a sound mechanism to collect data on the benefits our partners avail themselves of through our membership. From limited data, we were able to gather that our members collectively availed of Rs. 6,93,644.00 in the year 2018-19 in the form of a discount from four centres. In comparison, in 2019-20, the figures obtained from Ayursundra (diagnostic division) showed that members availed of in discount of Rs. 12,00,000. In 2020-21, we report that Excel Healthcare Hospitals served 112 of our members. In 2021-22, data from only nine partners showed that our members availed a rebate of ₹3,374,905 (estimated).

This year (2023-24), data from 19 partners showed that 1338 members collectively availed a rebate of INR 1,180,416.00. Given that we have over 50 partners (diagnostic centres, hospitals, clinics, opticians, dentists, and pharmacies), the savings in out-of-pocket medical expenses for our members would be substantially higher.

BENEFITS AVAILED OF BY MEMBERS (PARTIAL LIST) 2023-24
	DIAGNOSTICS/HOSPITALS	PATIENT	REBATES
1	Panacea	271	2,38,016.00
2	Assam Health Care Diagnostics	350	3,15,000.00
3	Primus	47	65,000.00
4	Agilous SKYLEB Diagnostics	450	4,50,000.00
5	Apollo Clinic	15	30,000.00
6	Reliance Med Lab	2	600.00
7	Medishade	9	22000.00
8	Vivan Diagnostic	5	7,500.00
9	Friends Optical	3	3,600.00
10	Down Town Hospital	18	2,62,500
11	Nemcare Hospital	102	3,06000.00
12	MarowariMetarnity Hospital	10	25,000.00
13	Swasti Hospital (Rangia)	7	40,000.00
14	Swagat Hospital	20	85,000.00
15	Samikhya Diagnostics	2	700.00
16	Royel Diagnostics	2	1,000.00
17	Breathe Clinic	3	1,500.00
18	Indraprastha Apollo, Delhi	2	60,000.00
19	Health City Hospital	20	1,10,000.00
	Total	1338	20,23,416.00

The beneficiaries are the Cooperative’s core strength. Beneficiary enrolment is the core strategy the Cooperative is pursuing.

The beneficiary enrolled in 2023-24 was 512 (compared to 1056 in 2022-23), with a revenue collection of ₹245,400.00 (compared to ₹425,950.00 in 2022-23). Thus, at the end of the period, our total beneficiary members stand at just over 8318.

We are the only Cooperative society in the Healthcare which is Not-for-Profit.

You can represent us by becoming a proud member of the society and help create a sustainable citizen-owned medical enterprise.

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CSR and 80G REGISTRATION

As cited in the last annual report, the cooperative obtained CSR Funding Registration, but the 80G registration was awaited. We received 80G provisional registration on 06-05-2023. Subsequently, on 22-12-2023, a show-cause notice was issued by the concerned division of the IT department, stating that the society’s aims and objectives were commercial in nature and that the provisional registration would not be cancelled. We replied that, although it appears commercial, from inception we have been operating on a not-for-profit basis, and that we will amend our bye-laws to reflect this reality. On that basis, the authority issued 80G registration was granted on permenant baisis on 27-12-2023. Subsequently, on 10-03-2024, a Special General Meeting of the Society approved the amendments to the by-laws to reflect the Not-for-Profit activities of the society.

In response to our letter seeking approval of the resolutions passed by the Special General Meeting of 10-03-2024, the Cooperative department approved our decision to maintain a separate bank account (Resolution 2) for CSR and Philatropic receipts but observed that ‘there is no provision of CSR funding, Grants and Philatropic donations under the Assam Cooperative Act, 2007’ (Resolution 1). We believe this does not preclude carrying out our business as usual to earn profit and/or to conduct part or all of the activities as Not-for-Profit in compliance with the relevant Acts, and we have been given registrations (CSR and 80G). Whether to share profit or reinvest it back for welfare activities, which we do, is the prerogative of the shareholders. Approving a separate bank account for CSR and Philatropic receipts is one of the major requirements, which are compliant with and approved by the Cooperative department. Receiving CSR and 80G registrations are significant milestones that will enable the Cooperative to receive CSR and Charitable grants to develop Not-for-Profit services for the general public.

The community outreach non-communicable disease screening health camps have played a vital role over the last few years in enrolling new beneficiaries. We have conducted 09 camps in this calendar year, which is a real achievement.

Health Camps
Date	Place	Enrolment
4.05.2023	Barpeta	0
10.05.2023	Lekhika Santha	9
02.06.2023	Cotton College	4
10.06.2023	Jatiya Mohasova	2
19.07.2023	Snehabandhan	5
07.10.2023	Pandu College	12
14.11.2023	Nagarik Bank Lalganesh	4
20.01.2024	Chief Engineer’s Office, Irrigation Department	8
27.01.2024	Jyotinagar, Kali Mandir	0
	Total	44

CITIZEN MEET

The society organised a citizen meet on 02-03-24 held at the PWD Convention Centre, Dispur. More than a hundred participants attended the meet, including a number of eminent personalities, civil society groups, and representatives of hospitals and diagnostic centres.

AYUSH BARTA

We have been sporadically publishing a newsletter since 2018. But November 2023 witnessed the publication of our new Newsletter titled AYUSH BARTA punlished in both Assamese and English, which we aim to publish regularly 3-4 issues annually. The newsletter not only enhances our image but also serves a genuine purpose by building awareness of health-related problems and earns valuable advertising revenue for us.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

FINANCES

We have not issued any cash dividends to our shareholders. Our operating deficit has reduced to Rs. 1,23,371 from 1,31,247. We raised a share capital of Rs. 1,60,500, which helped to balance the expenditure. We have earned a profit of Rs. 65,800 from the publication of a new Newsletter titled AYUSH BARTA (Volume 1, Issue 1) published in November 2023.

We are still relying on our long-term strategy, which is to build a substantial membership base to enable us to develop and run our own services. However, our limitedorganizational capacity is a barrier to achieving the target. We do not anticipate making a profit and offering dividends any time soon. In fact, we plan to expand Not-for-Profit activities now that we have obtained both CSR and 80G registrations, allowing us to raise funds (see 10). In the meantime, many of our shareholders have reaped substantial benefits well over their investment, whichis in the true sense in the spirit of Cooperative principles (see 7).

The Cooperative’s net worth as a social enterprise is far greater than its tangible assets. The steadily increasing beneficiary base, tie-ups, and greater brand familiarity among the public are intangible assets the Cooperative can leverage.

We are not actively raising capital. We have eight new shareholders in this Period (Total: 268), raising a share capital of ₹1,60,500.

Conceptualise and produce the feasibility report for a Hospital/Community Diagnostic and Day-care Centre to provide consultations, same-day elective care, elective procedures, and maternal and child health (Outstanding from the last year).
Continue new tie-ups with established service providers all over the state and at the national level (Ongoing).
Expand the beneficiary base, particularly by targeting group membership (Ongoing).
Publish Health Magazines, Health Guides on topics, e.g., Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Obesity (Ongoing).
Organise healthcare conferences to raise awareness (Ongoing).
To plan a diagnostic centre and a general hospital (Outstanding from the last year).
Expend tie-up with institutions outside the state (New).
Setting up a Generic Medicine business (Resolution of Special General Meeting of 10-03-23).

We understand that developing and running our own services, e.g., a hospital, even if a small one, requires efficiency, expertise, and resources. Currently, the Cooperative is still developing its capacity. But we are in a good position to plan to explore soft loans and other funding, including crowdfunding, to expand our services. In the meantime, we will play the role of a catalyst to create a consortium of like-minded, benevolent organisations and shareholders to engage in ethical medical services under the umbrella of the Cooperative. Innovation in service delivery and the engagement of citizens in this effort are our primary concerns.

Overall, our membership enrolment, the key pillar of our strategy, is lower than last year. We cannot offer many excuses for the low performance except that the shareholders will join forces with the board of directors in strengthening the effort.

PROPOSALS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board of Directors (Effective from May 2022)

Dr Jayanta B Sarma (Chairperson)

Shri Jagadish Sarma (Vice-Chairperson)

Dr Sujit Bordhan (Chief Executive Officer)

Dr Ramen Talukdar, Shri Surendra Nath Kalita, Shri Parameswar Sharma, Shri Shyamal Bhattacharyya, Shri Dipak Kumar Pathak, Shri Premkanta Chaudhury, Shri Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharyya, Shri Utpal Barua, Shri Rajendra Kumar Gupta, Dr Bijuli Goswami, Dr Dipti Rekha Sarma, Shri Hriday Ranjan Pathak, Dr Bhupendra Deva Sarma, Dr Nripen Barkataki, Advocate Dhiraj Baruah

Invitees to the Board of Directors

Shri Pinku Chaudhury, Shri Sazzad Alam, ACS, Shri Dhruba Garg, Professor Arup Hazarika, Shri Manjit Nath, Shri Hiranya Goswami, Shri Rana Basistha, Shri Karendra Kalita, Shri Jayanta Talukdar, Shri Arup Sarma

We take this opportunity to thank all our shareholders for their support in our continued endeavour in this pioneering approach towards ‘Citizen Driven Healthcare‘.

Any more questions? Feel free to write us a mail!

contact@assamhealthcare.coop

Assam Healthcare Cooperative Society (Reg. No. G-05/2016-17, Assam Cooperative Society Act)
Phone: (+91) 90852-28863, (0361) 3574086 | Email: contact@assamhealthcare.coop
Income Tax Registration: 80G-AAFAA1459HE20231 | CSR Registration: CSR00034023
House No. 144, Rajgarh, Bhangagarh, Guwahati, Assam 781005
(Opposite Aruna Memoria Nursing Home)

The Cooperative is a not-for-profit entity.

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