Nomal Chandra Borah

Nomal Chandra Borah
Born	(1950-08-15) 15 August 1950 (age 74) Dubia, Assam, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, AIIMS, University of Michigan
Occupations	Social Entrepreneur Doctor
Known for	GNRC Hospitals Affordable Health Mission Swasthyamitra GNRC Medishop Asian Institute of Nursing Education GNRC Medireach
Spouse	Dr. (Mrs.) Jayasree Borah
Children	Ms. Priyanka Borah Mrs. Satabdee Borah Dr. Madhurjya Borah
Awards	Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN) Birangana Sati Sadhani Award from Government of Assam, 2015 Janamitra Award from Sanskritik Mahasabha, Asom, 2011

Nomal Chandra Borah is an Indian social entrepreneur^[1] and neurologist who founded GNRC Affordable Health Mission in India.^[2] He founded the GNRC Hospitals, the first Tertiary care Super-Specialty Hospital in North-east India. The hospital was initially set up in Maligaon, Guwahati with the name Guwahati Neurological Research Centre (GNRC) in the year 1984 with the active participation and supervision of Late Dr K V Mathai,^[3] the legendary Neurosurgeon from Vellore. Later, GNRC was converted into a limited company in the year 1985 and since then it has been involved in many pioneering healthcare delivery initiatives in North-east India. GNRC Ltd was officially formed in the year 1987.

Borah is the owner of the retail chain GNRC Medishop^[4] which provides hygienic FMCG products, grocery and personal care items and medicines. He also serves as a Managing Trustee of Asian Institute of Nursing Education.^[5]

Early life

Dr Nomal Chandra Borah was born in a peasant family on 15 August 1950.^[6] His birthplace was Dubia village in Gohpur area of then undivided Sonitpur district of Assam.

Medical education and career

Borah completed MBBS in the year 1975.^[7]

In the year 1992, Borah attended the Graduate Summer Course in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Michigan, USA. He received Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN).^[8]

GNRC and the Entrepreneurial Journey

In the year 1984, Borah set up North-east India’s first Tertiary care super-specialty hospital in Guwahati, Assam, and coined it as Guwahati Neurological Research Centre. In the year 1985, it was converted to a limited company with the name GNRC Ltd.

GNRC was the first Tertiary care super-specialty hospital of Assam and North-east India.^[9]

In the year 2004, Borah founded Asian Institute of Nursing Education to create and nurture quality nursing professionals in the region.^[5] Currently, the institute offers degrees in B.Sc Nursing, Post Basic Nursing and M.Sc Nursing. Then in the year 2006, Borah started GNRC Medishop.^[4] These are retail stores combining FMCG, grocery, personal care and medicines.

The second facility under the aegis of GNRC Ltd was set up in the year 2008 at Sixmile, Guwahati.^[10]

GNRC Affordable Health Mission and GNRC Medical

Borah initiated and launched a mobile medical unit named as GNRC Medireach in April 2012.^[11]

Borah personally visited more than 7,000 villages to understand the health issues faced by rural Assamese people and their inability to access and afford quality healthcare. This massive exercise led to the setting up of GNRC Medical at North Guwahati near Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG) in the year 2014.^[11] It is an affordable healthcare institution catering to all cross-sections of the society, especially the financially weaker sections. This initiative was later recognized by World Bank Group (WBG) through its India Development Marketplace (IDM) initiative, to receive a grant of US $150,000.^[12]

In August 2017, Borah founded GNRC Affordable Health Mission to ensure access to affordable and quality healthcare for everyone in the society irrespective of their financial status. This Mission has already touched majority households of the state of Assam through a network of 12,000 GNRC Swasthya Mitras. GNRC Swasthya Mitras are essentially community health workers for the Mission.^[13][14]

As a Writer

• Publishing "GNRC Swasthya" a Health Magazine since 2007 with a monthly circulation of 65,000 copies.^[15]
• "Chikitsokor Tokabohi:, a book in Assamese language published by Prapti Prakash in 2006.^[16]
• "Sarukonor Stroke Aru Sikisthya Bishoyok Ananya Rosona", a book in Assamese language. Published by Student’s Corner, June 2012^[16]
• "Doctor Aru Rogir Jugalbandi," a book in Assamese language, published by Students Corner, 28 November 2014.^[16]
• "Swasthya Sikitshya Bigyan Aru Somaj Bybostha", a book in Assamese language, published by GNRC Swasthya, November, 2017.^[16]

Awards and achievements

1. Recognition from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) by including the Profile of Dr. N. C. Borah as a case study in the Chapter on "Rural Entrepreneurship—Strategies And Experiences " for M.Sc Course in Social Sciences, 2007.^[17]
2. Conferred the "Birangana Sati Sadhani Award "by the Chief Minister of Assam, Sri Tarun Gogoi on 2 December 2015 for contributions towards the society.^[18]
3. Conferred the "ERDF Excellence Award, 2015" for the entrepreneurial initiative to provide quality healthcare and contributions towards the development of Neurosciences in North Eastern India.^[19]

References

1. Network, eHealth (21 August 2014). "Heralding Health Renaissance in North East - eHealth Magazine". Retrieved 10 December 2020.
2. "Purohit lauds GNRC effort". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
3. Rajshekhar, Vedantam; Alexander, Mathew (1 November 2017). "Prof. K V Mathai (1926 – 2017)". Neurology India. 65 (6): 1456–1458. doi:10.4103/0028-3886.217997. ISSN 0028-3886. PMID 29133749. S2CID 21304008.
4. www.tofler.in. "GNRC MEDISHOP PRIVATE LIMITED - Company Profile, Directors, Revenue & More". Tofler. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
5. "AINE : Asian Institute of Nursing Education of GNRC, Nursing institute in Guwahati, Nursing institute in Assam". aine.org.in. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
6. Sharma, Shantanu Nandan; Bhatt, Shephali; Aravind, Indulekha; Katiyar, Prerna. "Republic's Children: Recalling aspirations for the nation". The Economic Times. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
7. Sarkar, Arnab Mukherjee, Sushmita (9 April 2018). Hope Dawns in the East: New Model promises 'Health for All, Smiles for All. Notion Press. ISBN 978-1-946556-01-1.
8. "DR. NOMAL CHANDRA BORAH|HealthcareLeadership: Dr Nomal Chandra Borah - Neurologist and the founder of Guwahati Neurological Research Centre Limited (GNRC) #HealthcarePR". voiceofhealthcare.org. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
9. "GNRC Hospitals in Guwahati". Sehat. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
10. "Torchbearers of GNRC". Express Healthcare. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
11. Dutta, Saptarishi (2 July 2014). "You can make a state-of-the-art hospital out of bamboo". Quartz India. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
12. "World Bank Group sanctions $150,000 grant to GNRC". @businessline. July 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
13. Bureau, T. N. T. (18 August 2017). "Assam: Affordable Health Mission initiative of GNRC launched in Guwahati". The Northeast Today. Retrieved 10 December 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
14. "10,000 Community Health Workers at work in Assam to prevent coronavirus outbreak, courtesy GNRC Hospitals". ANI News. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
15. "Health Magazines in Assamese language: A selected Study" (PDF). shabdbooks.com. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
16. "Speakers' profile" (PDF). www.iitg.ac.in. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
17. "Farmer-doctor profile in Ignou syllabus". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
18. "Awards | Directorate of Cultural Affairs | Government Of Assam, India". directorculture.assam.gov.in. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
19. "Welcome to ERD Foundation". erdf.edu.in. Retrieved 10 December 2020.

External links

• http://gnrchospitals.com