History of National Rehabilitation Institute
Lala Karam Chand Ji (1938-2020) was a great visionary. He was very tireless and dedicated social worker. He established a primary and a middle school with the help of a group of team leaders in Subash Nagar area of Hoshiarpur town in Punjab, India. Due to his sickness at the age of 14, he could not continue with his formal studies but made sure that his children, nieces and nephews get the best kind of education. It was his firm belief that proper education is the only way which can lead one to success in life no matter at what place or in what conditions one is born. He encouraged his brothers’, sisters’ and cousins’ children living in rural areas to come and study in Hoshiarpur town, provided them with free accommodation and supported them financially as well as emotionally. They all respect him like an elder in the family. The foundation of spirit of social service in him was laid by his father who was a Lambardar of his village.
All saintly personages and spiritual leaders used to visit and halt at his place as it was located on a main road. As a young child Lala Karam Chand ji used to serve the Sadhus, the Fakirs and the Pandits who visited his parental house. Later he moved to Hoshiarpur town where he established his business (flour-mills) but all those Sadhus, Fakirs and Pandits started coming to his house there and he, his wife (Bibi Gurbachan Kaur) and all of his children would serve those religious visitors with devotion. Some of them will come from far off places such as Bombay to stay with the family for a couple of weeks. All of their devotees would visit his house to get the blessings from those holy personages. Lala Karam Chand ji believed in serving others by providing the members of his society with opportunities for educational and social advancement.
He extended his charity especially to those who were struggling socially and financially. He supported all of his five children single handedly to receive higher education at Panjab University, Chandigarh in India while some of them also proceeded to the USA for further studies.
Lala Karam Chand ji was a very practical and pragmatic man. He adopted the ancient Indian philosophy which advocates that first one should make oneself self- reliant and then should proceed step by step to attend to the needs of one’s children, members of one’s extended family, local population around and the humanity at large. He was the founding member of a social welfare organization and he established a school in Subhash Nagar area and a community center at a Gurudwara. He also associated with the near-bye temple of Baba Balak Nath and contributed towards the annual Bhandara (Langar) at the temple regularly. Later, he moved to Chandigarh to be with his children and set up his business at the neighbouring township of Kalka.
Inspired by Lala Karam Chand ji, his elder son Dr. Harmesh Kumar founded his first non-profit mental health agency in June 1993 which was named as Neurobehavioral and Psychological Institute (NPI) in collaboration with another Indian Psychologist to continue the family tradition of helping those in need. Later, its name was changed to Portia Bell Hume Behavioral Health and Training Center as it grew to expand mental health services and training programs to a wider area of beneficiaries.
In 1996, a Trust was established in Chandigarh under the name of National Rehabilitation Institute (NRI) with Lala Karam Chand ji as its President. The main aim of NRI is to provide the poor senior citizens in the tri-city area (Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula) with free hearing aids and health screening services. Health camps for poor people in Punjab, Chandigarh, Punchkula and near bye Himachal areas are arranged through this organization, where doctors from the Post-Graduate Institute (PGI), Chandigarh would go and perform pro bono services for the benefit of the poor under the able leadership of Dr. Saraswati Gupta, Executive Director of the Trust. Dr. Harmesh Kumar progressed to be a well-known Psychologist in California, USA after receiving post-doctoral training under Dr. Ronald M. Ruff, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neuro-rehabilitation, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Kumar moved to the USA in 1990 after completion of his Ph.D. degree in Clinical Neuropsychology at the PGI, Chandigarh. Lala Karam Chand ji’s younger son Dr. Dharam Vir, who works as a Assistant Professor, Department of E.N.T., PGI, Chandigarh extends technical help and motivates his colleagues to volunteer to provide the financially weak senior citizens with free health screening. His middle son, Mr. Hardip Kumar, who is a instructor at Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, would volunteer his time during the weekend in arranging those Health Screening camps. Later on, when Lala Karam Chand ji moved to the USA to be with his son, Dr. Harmesh Kumar, he worked hard and saved money and organized welfare camps every year after he returned to India in 1999. While in the USA, he had also helped his son (Dr. Kumar) to expand his business in the USA starting from one assisted living facility (nursing home) to a concern of multiple facilities in the Bay area, Sacramento, and Central Valley (Fresno and Tulare Counties) to serve the seniors like him. Lala Karam Chand ji and his wife would sit with those seniors and make sure that the staff provided them with the best of human care they deserved.
Even though, Lala Karam Chand ji is not with us now yet his vision and spiritual fragrance of his personality will be felt for times to come. His enlightening guidance will continue to shine upon us all and will lead us to follow his foot-steps to continue with all of his good deeds in helping humanity in the times to come. The National Rehabilitation Institute (NRI), India, in collaboration with the South Asian Behavioral Health and Training Foundation Inc. of the USA, will continue to expand the area of its services to the needy population of the region.
