Shri Sowbhagraj Bhandari
Founder & Managing Trustee
M.K. Bhandari Hospital, Raichur
A Sacred Trust for the People of Raichur
“When we laid the foundation of M.K. Bhandari Hospital in February 1994, it was not as a commercial venture, but as the fulfilment of a sacred vow to my late mother, Banita Bai. Healthcare must belong to the poor with the same dignity and technology that the privileged receive.”
Dear Citizens of Raichur and Friends,
Our family has lived in Raichur for over a century and a half. When our forefathers arrived here from Bisalpur in Rajasthan during the 1870s, this land of Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers embraced us with open arms. Whatever our family has achieved in business, commerce, and industry was made possible by the good people of Raichur. It has always been our deepest conviction that we must return this debt of gratitude with devotion.
The turning point of my life occurred on a stormy monsoon night in 1974. We were traveling between Mahbubnagar and Jadcherla when my beloved mother, Late Smt. Banita Bai Bhandari, suffered severe acute respiratory distress. In those days, there were no emergency casualty wards, no oxygen pipelines, and no intensive care units along those desolate highway stretches. In that agonizing hour of helplessness, before she departed this world, my mother whispered a wish that has guided every heartbeat of my life since: ‘Build a hospital in Raichur so that no poor soul will ever die for want of emergency care.’
On 24 February 1994, that dream materialized as M.K. Bhandari Hospital. Over the last thirty years, with God's grace and the relentless dedication of our doctors, nurses, and staff, we have had the privilege of treating over 1,00,000 patients. We established our 11-bed high-flux dialysis unit where thousands of poor kidney patients receive life-saving treatment at trust-subsidized rates. In partnership with Smile Train, our surgeons have corrected cleft deformities for more than 18,000 children completely free of cost. Through our Jaipur Foot centre, over 23,500 amputees have received free artificial limbs and the gift of walking again.
As we look towards the future, our pledge remains steadfast: M.K. Bhandari Hospital will always be a place where no patient is turned away. As long as this institution stands, medical excellence, human compassion, and fair ethics will remain our sacred compass.