
Community Health: A Responsive Action for Koylanchal Initiative (CHARAK)
The CHARAK initiative is a targeted corporate social responsibility intervention designed to address specialised healthcare challenges in India’s coal-mining regions. Unlike national health schemes such as Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY which identify beneficiaries primarily through socio-economic deprivation criteria CHARAK covers households with an annual income of up to ₹8 lakh, protecting the vulnerable "missing middle" who often fall outside standard welfare safety nets. Additionally, rather than operating purely as an insurance payout, CHARAK serves as an institutional bridge by using Northern Coalfields Limited’s (NCL) Nehru Shatabdi Chikitsalaya (NSC) to coordinate direct referrals to empanelled super-speciality hospitals nationwide.






