Kanchi Shankaracharya for hospital near Silchar
Kanchi Shankaracharya for hospital near Silchar
Correspondent
SILCHAR, Jan 25 – As a part of his mission for North-East as a whole, Kanchi Shankaracharya has expressed his willingness to set up a superspeciality hospital near Kumbhirgram Airport, 18 kmn from here, on a plot of land donated by Arunabund Tea Estate owned by the Kolkata-based Bhagirathi Green Field Real Estate Limited.
The Sankaradeva Nethralaya at Guwahati, also a dream project of the Shankaracharya with the financial and accommodation back-up of the company, is today an important centre of eye treatment in the North East. Justifying the superspeciality hospital in Cachar with particular focus on cancer, Dipankar Chatterjee, chairman-cum-director of the company, addressing a press meet here, recently said that the highest incidence of the dreaded disease in southern Assam "has prompted Shankaracharya to have a better centre of treatment for the economically backward people of this region".
Besides, the strategic location of the hospital will be of immense help to the patients not only of cancer but other diseases of the entire North Eastern States and even beyond, Dipankar Chatterjee said, adding that the 30 acres of land donated by the company has been transferred to a trust awaiting registration. He appreciated the active support of Dr Harsha Bhatta-charjee, director of Sankaradeva Nethralaya, in this humanitarian cause who has estimated initial investment of Rs 25 crore to begin the project. A sum of Rs 50 lakh has been sanctioned from the Prime Minister's special fund at the initiative of former Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev.
Dipankar Chatterjee, however, expressed his surprise at the 'hostile attitude' of a few labourers who have their thatched houses on the plot of land earmarked for the hospital. This was quite inexplicable considered against the gesture of the tea management to provide them pucca dwelling houses on an alternative site. They are the workers of the Arunabund Tea Estate who, according to an insider, are opposing the hospital being instigated by outside elements having vested interest in the land under their possession and its adjoining area.
In order to resolve the issue, Dipankar Chatterjee pointed out that he had talked to the two unions, Cachar Cha Sramik Union and Barak Valley Cha Mazdoor Sangh which control the labour force of the tea estate. Both the unions assured the tea estate of all possible help to persuade the workers free the land in their possession. The tea estate, in return, assured the workers with whom Chatterjee also held discussion on all the basic facilities. Chatterjee said if the problem was amicably settled, Kanchi Shankaracharya would come down here to lay the foundation of the superspeciality hospital in March or April for which Rs 100 crore would be spent in the first phase.
The plan also envisages to have a satellite township around on the pattern of the Siliguri satellite township developed by the company. Once the hospital and the township come up, it will change the socio-economic scenario of the region, pointed out Chatterjee. S Guha Thakurta, ITA chairman, Barak Valley Indian Tea Association and RN Pandey, senior manager of the Arunabund Tea Estate were present at the press meet.
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