Dimapur Civil Hospital land encroachment will be solved soon, Dr Lotha inspects Civil Hospital, Referral Hospital, Medziphema Trauma Center building
Source: Oken Jeet Sandham - NEPS

Dimapur, June 08: Nagaland Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr TM Lotha has assured the doctors and staffs of the Dimapur Civil Hospital that the long standing hospital land encroachment problem would be taken up at the earliest.

The Minister along with a host of Medical Directorate officials have today visited the prevailing precarious condition of the Dimapur Civil Hospital after an one Bangladeshi Muslim encroacher moved to High Court and even Supreme Court, making things more complicated.

Dr TM Lotha, Health and Family Welafre Minister, inspecting Dimapur Civil Hospital Land encroaching sites

The Doctors of the Dimapur Civil Hospital disclosed that M Hogue, a Bangladeshi married to one Banuo Angami, had encroached the Hospital land.

But instead of leaving the encroached land, they went to the Court claiming the encroached area belonged to them.

This legal tangle over the hospital land encroachment has been going on for about 15 years and the doctors and staffs of the hospital have been mentally and physically harassed, as they were made to appear in Courts on several occasions explaining the position of the hospital land, says Dr Seikhato Sema, Medical Superintendent, Dimapur Civil Hospital.

Angered by the manner in which one Bangladeshi had even filed in Supreme Court against the State Medial Department for his encroached land, Dr Lotha asserted such an outsider cannot take the �whole State to ransom� by taking up the land encroachment issue which belongs to hospital, to High Court and Supreme Court.

The Minister was also shocked to learn that the encroacher even filed petition in the Court charging that 5 prominent persons from Dimapur including then Naga Council President Horangse Sangtam and MS Dimapur Naga Hospital Dr Seikhato Sema tried to kidnap him on July 11, 2004.However, Dr Sema left Dimapur on July 3, 2004 for Germany and returned on July 19, 2004.�He (the Bangladeshi) will be finished legally with the help of our Advocate General and senior advocates,� says the Minister adding this Bangladeshi Muslim who married to one Banuo Angami has no evidence of having land in hospital compound as far as the �past records are concerned and his false claims and cooked up theory have already been proved�.

Dr Lotha disclosed that he had already discussed with the Advocate General of Nagaland, Bal Gopal about the prevailing Dimapur Civil Hospital land encroachment problem.

With the consultation of the Advocate General and with some serious advocates, the problems would be solved soon,� the Minister assures.

The Minister also says he would take up other urgent problems like power supply, water supply, doctors� guesthouse and fencing of the hospital.

He is visibly unhappy for the poor upkeep of the hospital and advises the doctors and staffs of the hospital to upkeep the hospital peripheries, as this would also prevent from encroachers.

Informing about their recent signing of tripartite agreement with CMC, Vellore for running the affairs of the Referral Hospital, Dimapur that is now called Christina Instituted of Health Sciences and Research (CIHSR), Dr Lotha expresses optimism for the early commissioning of the much-awaited hospital.

�This is along drawn out project and we should try to finish it at earliest as our Naga people cannot go outside for treatment always,� the Minister explains.

�This is the need of the Naga people and we should not go against the wishes of the Naga people, � the Minister says.

�Naga should have good medical services in the State and once it is completed, this will become another CMC in the whole of the Northeast�.

Earlier the Minister and his Medical Directorate officials visited Medziphema Trauma Center building and also inspected the Community Health Center, Medziphema.

Local Congress MLA Rokonicha was also present.

The Minister and his officials also inspected the Referral Hospital (now CIHSR).

He went around and inspected various blocks of the complex and also the embankment condition.