On the world map, India has made tremendous progress and is truly shining at many levels. Internally, however, there are several neglected pockets. A large section of the population, living in villages, is reeling under poverty that most of us have (fortunately) not seen, nor experienced. Poor infrastructure, poor education, poor livelihood opportunities and poor healthcare facilities is way of life for them.

Dr M L Dhawale, saw this plight and worked all his life with a motto that no one should be denied healthcare service just because she could not afford it.

Sadly he passed away at an early age of 67. Such was his charisma that his students, so moved by his teachings and values, chose to give up lucrative medical careers and formed a Trust in his name to serve the poor and needy.

Starting in 1987, with one clinic in Mumbai slums, 35 years later, the students, then in their twenties are still serving the community. Since then the Trust has expanded to 3 hospitals, 12 rural clinics, 14 urban clinics, 2 mobile clinics, presently serving more than 200,000 patients per year.

After incessant work in Palghar’s backward regions, few of the feathers in our cap are : 

• Child deliveries at hospital increased from 5% to 95% 
• Antenatal care, which was unheard of, is up from 0 to 100%
• Age at marriage and hence age at first delivery has moved from less than 18 to 20+ 
• Average weight at birth has gone up from less than 2 kilos to 2.8 kilos
• Average number of children per woman has reduced from 4+ to 2
• Continuous work for managing anaemia amongst adolescent girls (tomorrow’s mothers) 
• More & more girls are now completing education & taking up vocational skill program
• More than 1000 women have formed Self Help Groups and are becoming financially empowered  
• Opened first Dialysis center in the region, making life saving treatment available closer to home
• First Neonatal ICU facility made available in our hospital
• Complex surgeries of Joint Replacement or Urology or LSCS were made available to poor patients either free or at concessional rates or under Government approved schemes.

For last 35 years, the Trust has constantly moved from one challenge to another and worked incessantly towards making the community life better and more dignified through education, livelihood opportunities, watershed programs, awareness about health & hygiene etc.

Two prominent USPs of our organisation are:

•  We are an Homoeopathy institute i.e. cost of medicines for the beneficiary is extremely extremely low 
• The Trustee & Board are all medical professionals practicing for more than 30 years

• Dr M L Dhawale Memorial Trust was born with the purpose of serving the health needs of the underserved, neglected, poor, non-affording populace.
• For over 35 years, we have stuck to our mission, incessantly against all odds.
• Even during COVID era, when most other hospitals downed their shutters, our hospital remained open and served the patients without charging a pie extra. When the villagers barricaded entry in the villages, we went till the village borders and served patients across the makeshift wood or rock obstacles.  We were happy to witness that the organisational values have percolated down from the senior director to the Mama on the ground and Community Workers in the villages. Without being modest, we have to admit, this is a big feather in our cap.
• MLDT is always sensitive to the community's needs. We do not take on a project because it is fancy or will help us publish a paper or help us get more donations. Once we realise that a project can be put on auto-pilot, we take on a new challenge and start work on it. That is how we are able to serve the community for Mother & Child Care, Adolescent Girls mental & physical health, Malnutrition amongst 0 to 6 year old, Dialysis, Ophthalmic disorders, Senior citizens care, Bone Replacement, Neonatal Intensive Care and a whole gamut of ailments which are otherwise out of the reach of poor.
• Realising that mere health is not sufficient, the Trust also took up several other challenges such as creating livelihood, empowering women, rejuvenating water resources, improving quality of school education, promoting art, encouraging & supporting shift to natural farming. In this manner, we are able to move towards holistic development of villages.
• A corporate house can participate in any of these noble activities to contribute towards building our nation through financial support, technical support or through volunteering thereby inculcating a sense of social commitment in employees.