Mumbai: Muslims in Ichalkaranji town of Maharashtra have donated a 10-bed ICU at a local hospital with Rs 36 lakh they collected in the form of Zakaat from the community members this Ramadan. The town is 380km from Mumbai.
Zakaat is the third pillar of Islam which makes it obligatory for Muslims to give 2.5% of their annual savings in charity.
ICU section of Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Civil Hospital was inaugurated by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the day of Eid. Thackeray appreciated the community’s efforts and said via video conference: “Muslims in Ichalkaranji have shown the way for everyone in the country. The Muslim community has set an example on how to celebrate a festival.”
Samast Muslim Samaj (SMS), a Muslim organisation in Ichalkaranji, decided during the holy month of Ramadan to fund a 10-bed ICU facility at the town’s only government hospital as earlier patients needing ICU facility were sent to towns like Kolhapur and Solapur.
TOI quoted Dr Javed Bagwan, a surgeon associated with IGM Civil Hospital as saying, “This is a great gesture by the Muslims of this town. I don’t think anywhere else in India Muslims of an entire town have used the Zakaat money to fund such a facility in critical care. This will help us fight the coronavirus.”
Muslims comprise of 15% of the total three lakh population of Ichalkaranji town.