SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
SILCHAR: After coming to power at Dispur in 2016, the BJP-led Sonowal Government included among other things, a medical college at the border town of Karimganj, on its development agenda for Barak. The move was taken in view of the rapidly rising population of the valley and the total dependence of 40 lakh people on the 53-year Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH). During the raging COVID-19 pandemic, critical patients are being rushed to SMCH from the civil hospitals of Karimganj and Hailakandi, creating lots of difficulties and even leading to deaths. For the decentralisation of medical services, another medical college in the valley has become imperative.
Proactive Senior Citizens' Group (PASCG) — voice of people — has raised the relevant question if fund can be allotted for the proposed medical colleges at Kokrajhar, Nalbari and Tinsukia, why not for Karimganj Medical College.
Surprisingly, Prof Dilip Kumar Dey, general secretary of the group, said that no leader or organisation till now has raised its voice against it. He reminded how GMC, AMC and SMC grew up from the campus of their respective civil hospitals and local science colleges and thus gradually and systematically their infrastructure was raised and new buildings came up for the medical colleges.
The establishment of a medical college leads to well advanced and affordable treatment to the common people in general, besides creating avenues of studies in the medical and paramedical courses and also opening up opportunities of jobs for the trained-up students. For any medical college, communication facilities are also important which makes the border town well placed. Prof Dilip Dey has strongly demanded allotment of funds for the Karimganj Medical College,
Taking up the thread of protest from PASCG, the most active MLA of Karimganj (North), Kamalakha Dey Purkayastha (Congress) castigated the BJP leaders of the district for maintaining silence on this most important issue, calling them 'a bunch of spineless people.' He also made a scathing attack on the State government over this attitude of discrimination towards the border district. Purkayastha said that the State government in its budget of 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 did mention the Karimganj Medical College which he thinks is being used as a lollipop for Barak in every financial year. He doubted the seriousness of Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the medical college.
The Congress MLA also said that the development of the district has come to a standstill. The Land Port Authority of India allotted Rs 200 crore for raising the integrated check gate at Sutarkandi border to facilitate better trade movement with Bangladesh. It has been caught in scams and scandal involving high and low officials, and land mafias, leading to the arrest of one former DC and ADC and after that nothing is being heard about its development.
A government which came to power with the promise of 'Zero Tolerance against Corruption' might be shocked itself to see how a section of its Barak leaders are pushing up illegal trade in coal, Burmese betel nuts, fertilisers, lime stones and what not, depriving the state exchequer of crores of rupees every year, he alleged. But then, who cares.
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