Lobby at work for mega hospital  

JAGATSINGHPUR: While there has been no official confirmation for setting up a multi-specialty hospital in Jagatsinghpur district, several political leaders and organisations have stepped up activities demanding establishment of the mega project in their respective areas.On Thursday, activists of Urmilochan Pathagara, in association with Jagatsinghpur Bikash Manch, launched a padayatra from Naugaon to Bhubaneswar demanding the  hospital in their locality. 

Led by Pramod Kumar Swain and chairman of Jagatsinghpur Municipality Biplab Chaudhary, the activists embarked on the padayatra which will proceed towards Cuttack on NH-55 after covering areas of Jagatsinghpur and Biridi blocks. The padayatra will reach Bhubaneswar on Monday following which the activists will submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister and the Health Minister for a multi-specialty hospital in Jagatsinghpur.

Last month, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced to set up multi-specialty hospitals in 20 districts, excluding Jagatsinghpur. The CM’s announcement was met with strong resentment from the people of the district and local leaders decided to conduct an all-party meeting to show their unity and demand establishment of the mega hospital in Jagatsinghpur. 

However, instead of uniting for the cause, the local leaders have started playing politics over the issue keeping in mind the upcoming general elections. On Sunday, local Congress legislator Chiranjib Biswal and his supporters addressed the media and threatened to intensify stir against the Government for excluding Jagatsinghpur from the hospital plan.

Similarly, Chaudhary, who is also a Congress leader, conducted another all-party meeting for the purpose on Monday. However, Biswal, district BJD president Bisnu Das and BJP’s local unit president Satyabrata Mohapatra, skipped the meeting.Das, who is also the Vice-Chairman of State Planning Board, met Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena with his supporters on Sunday and submitted a memorandum demanding a multi-specialty hospital in Jagatsinghpur. Sources said  Jena has assured to establish such a hospital in the district.