Annual Report 2020-21

This report covers the period from April 2021 to March 2022. The period reflects gradual recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Like many other businesses, the activities of the Cooperative came to a complete standstill during April and May (the first lockdown) and then again in July (the second lockdown). Despite the situation, the Cooperative continued its journey towards fulfilling its mission and vision and achieved a few objectives.

OFFICE PTREMISE

The Guwahati Club premises are our registered office, which we have been sharing with a physiotherapist to partially balance our rent. However, the COVID-19 situation made his situation untenable, resulting in a default in rent payment on the part of the Physiotherapist. This increased our pressure, but we negotiated a rent waiver with the owner for the months when the lockdown was in force. Jalukbari’s premise is lying empty at the moment; a discussion is going on about letting it out to another party.

We continued to forge alliances with more diagnostic centres, hospitals, optometrists, dentists, and pharmacies. The complete list is attached as an annexure.

TIE-UP

BENEFICIARY & BENEFITS

We don’t have a sound mechanism to collect data on the benefits our partners receive from our membership. From limited data, we could gather that our members collectively availed of Rs. 6,93,644.00 in 2018-19 as a discount from four centres. In comparison, in 2019-20, the concrete figures obtained from Ayursundra (diagnostic division) showed members availed Rs. 12,00,000 as a discount. This year (2020-21), we report that Excel Healthcare Hospitals served 112 of our members. These are very patchy data, but it is not difficult to imagine that our members are collectively availing benefits to the tune of crores in the form of discounts if we consider all our partner diagnostic centres, hospitals, clinics, opticians, dentists, pharmacies etc. affirming our faith in ‘PEOPLE TOGETHER ARE STRONGER‘.

Beneficiaries are the cooperative’s core strength, and as such, enrolment is the core strategy that the Cooperative is pursuing.

Despite the interruption, we enrolled 825 beneficiaries, raising Rs. 339,340. This number is unsurprisingly considerably lower than the last reporting year (enrolment 1637, Rs. 391,000). Thus, at the end of the period, our total number of beneficiary members stood at just over 6000.

We extended our membership enrolment activity to other parts of the state, mainly Jorhat, with the help of a local youth who was appointed as our representative.

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NEW SERVICE

A brand-new Maruti van was purchased to operate as a patient transport vehicle. Dr Jayanta B Sarma provided a 0% interest loan on the van. Hence, we must make appropriate use of this vehicle.

The community outreach non-communicable disease screening health camps have played vital roles in enrolling new beneficiaries over the last few years. Unfortunately, we have only been able to conduct two camps this year due to the situation.

02.2021: Bapuji Nagar, Mathgaria (Enrollment: 10)
03.2021: Sualkuchi (Enrolment: 15)

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

FINANCES

Our balance sheet shows we have not issued any cash dividends to our shareholders so far, and our operating deficit has increased to 345489.38 from Rs. 287,956 in the last reporting year. We reiterate what we explained in last year’s report that these figures, at first sight, may look disheartening. Still, we need to appreciate the long-term strategy of the Cooperative, which is to create a substantial membership base to run our well-managed services for the benefit of the members in a financially sustainable fashion. This will require significant organisational capacity building, and we may be unable to offer dividends during this phase. First, however, we need to see how we are already collectively reaping the colossal benefit, which is much larger than our capital investment. Many of our shareholders have already reaped substantial benefits well over their share investment, which is true in the spirit of Cooperative principles.

Moreover, this reporting year has been extraordinary regarding interruptions to the usual way of life, which is expected to continue next year.

We strive to break even, improve our receipts and lower expenditures. Over the last few years, we have cut expenses and managed with just one staff. Our primary source of revenue is from beneficiary enrollment, which we anticipate may continue to take a hit due to COVID-19. Nevertheless, we must work hard; as this phase passes, we will be on the path to strong membership growth.

The cooperative’s net worth as a social enterprise is much more than its tangible assets. The steadily increasing beneficiary base, tie-ups, and growing brand familiarity among the public are non-tangible assets that the Cooperative should be able to leverage.

New tie-ups with established service providers all over the state and national level.
Open a franchisee of an All-India diagnostic chain.
Expand the beneficiary base (engage marketing agency or agents – incentive-linked enrolment).
Diversify Ayurkalpa, Guwahati Club by offering physiotherapy and blood sample collection services.
A retail outlet at Ayurkalpa, GU Market Complex, can be opened by partnering with an entrepreneur.
Publish Health Magazines and Educational Health Guides on topics e.g., Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity.
Organise conferences on healthcare issues to raise awareness and promote the Cooperative.
To plan a diagnostic centre and a general hospital.

We understand that developing and running our services, e.g., a hospital, even if a small one, requires efficiency, expertise and resources. Currently, the Cooperative lacks capacity. However, we are in a good position to plan to explore soft loans and funding, including crowdfunding, to develop 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. Our prime concerns are innovation in service delivery and citizens’ engagement in this effort.

PROPOSALS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr Umesh Chandra Sarma, Chairperson

Dr Jayanta Biswa Sarma, Vice-Chairperson

Dr Sujit Bordhan, CEO

Shri Mriganka Saikia, Sri Sushanta Sarkar, Dr Ramen Talukdar, Dr Manabendra Goswami, Dr Bijuli Goswami, Shri Premkanta Choudhary, Shri Surendra Nath Kalita, Advocate Dhiraj Baruah, Shri Rajendra Kumar Gupta, Smti Pranita Sarma, Shri Parameswar Sarma, Dr Bhupendra Dev Sarmah (Co-opted), Dr Nipen Barkataky (Co-opted), Dr Bhaskar Borgohain (Co-opted), Shri Umesh Chandra Boro (Co-opted)

Invitees: Sri Jogeswar Goswami, Sri Jagadish Sarma, Sri Tapash Baishya, Sri Shrichand Pareek, Sri Rana Basistha, Shri Kamal Jaiswal, Sri Manoj Sarma, Dr Darshana Garg, Mr Utpal Barua.

Advisory Board: Dr T.K. Sarma, Dr Rupali Borgohain, Dr Gouranga Kumar Sarma, Sri Prasanta Bujar Baruah, Sri Sushanta Sarkar, Sri Khagen Saikia.

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

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

contact@assamhealthcare.coop

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Assam Healthcare Cooperative Society | 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
Goswami Bhawan, H. C. Road, Latasil, Uzan Bazar, Guwahati, Assam 781001

The Cooperative is a not-for-profit entity.

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