TYCM proposes Senapati district as MRHRU site
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, July 14 2025: Tribal Youth Council Manipur (TYCM) on Monday submitted a representation to chief secretary urging to consider Senapati district as the site for establishing a Model Rural Health Research Unit (MRHRU) under ICMR and funded by Department of Health Research (DHR), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

In a release, TYCM pointed out that government of India has sanctioned one MRHRU for Manipur, to be established in a rural area or district under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

Accordingly, the government of Manipur shortlisted two sites in Senapati district and Kakching district.

In connection with this, a team from ICMR-RMRC-NE, along with officials from health services visited and surveyed both the proposed sites - Senapati and Kakching - on July 3, 2025 for site selection.

It is clearly stated that in MRHRU guidelines the objectives of MRHRU project/scheme is for improving quality of health services and ensuring medical facilities in remote rural areas in view of the poor/insufficient medical facilities in remote areas.

Moreover, the objective of the MRHRU project/ scheme is to improve quality of health services and ensure the availability of sufficient medical facilities in rural remote areas, in view of the existing poor and insufficient healthcare infrastructure in these regions, the release explained.

Pointing out that the valley districts of Manipur have comparatively sufficient number of medical facilities, both government and private, he stated that in rural hill areas or districts, there are no adequate, large, or properly equipped hospitals, whether government or private.

The rural hill districts, such as Senapati, severely suffer from inadequate and insufficient government and private healthcare infrastructure.

In view of this disparity and the need to ensure equitable healthcare access for all sections of society, particularly the underserved tribal communities in the hill areas, it is essential to prioritise the establishment of healthcare facilities in these regions, TYCM reasoned, while questioning why the government should focus on establishing medical facilities in places/districts where sufficient government and private hospitals already exist, instead of prioritising hill rural areas where medical facilities are inadequate or lacking.

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