Vindictive, claims Ch Bijoy on move to set up mental hospital at Lamphel Khunou
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 12 2024:
Political commentator Chongtham Bijoy has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone to set up a mental hospital at Lamphel Khunou will slander his image and invite legal complicacy.
Speaking to the media at his residence at Lamphel Khunou today, Ch Bijoy continued that he, however , thanked the Prime Minister for inaugurating and laying foundation stones for projects worth Rs 3500 crore for Manipur.
The list of projects announced by the Prime Minister recently include establishment of a 60 bedded mental hospital under PM's Development Initiative for North East Region (PM DeVINE) at an estimated cost of Rs 70 crore too, he added.
Saying that there are different Court cases over the piece of land where the Government plans to set up the mental hospital, Ch Bijoy said that there is also an order of the High Court to maintain the status quo of the site till March 20 .
He said that laying the foundation stone for constructing the mental hospital at the site is contemptuous.
Either the Centre might have been misled or there may be communication gap between the Centre and the State Government over the matter, Ch Bijoy added.
The selection of Lamphel Khunou as the site for the mental hospital is a targeted and vindictive move , he claimed.
Ch Bijoy went on to state that there already is a 50-bedded mental hospital at RIMS which is just about 300 metre distance away from the site chosen to set up the 60 bedded mental hospital.
Saying that there is also a State land and a ground near the site where the foundation stone for the mental hospital was laid, Ch Bijoy wondered why Lamphel Khunou was chosen of all other places.
He went on to state that the particular site was earmarked as a residential area by the State Cabinet under Greater Imphal Town Planning in 1992 .
Saying that he submitted a written complaint to Chief Minister N Biren Singh to give land pattas to the residents of Lamphel Khunou on January 16, 2021, the political commentator said that he got positive response and an official process to give land pattas was taken up.
However in September 2022, the CM Secretary asked the Director of Health Services to send a proposal to set up a mental hospital under PM DeVINE, following which the patta numbers of the residents of Lamphel Khunou were used without giving them any information, Ch Bijoy claimed.
Stating that SDO, Lamphel served an eviction notice to them on February 16, 2024, he said that they approached the High Court of Manipur challenging the eviction notice and the Court gave a judgment to maintain the status quo of the site.
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone to construct the mental hospital at the site recently, he added.
It seems like the incumbent Manipur Government doesn't know how to govern a State, Ch Bijoy said and advised that running a State cannot be done with the use of black power or black magic.
Notably, Ch Bijoy has also written to the Prime Minister to set up the mental hospital at some other place.