Ex-servicemen warn of stir over ‘shifting of Army hospital’

Amitava Banerjee, MP, 2 Feb 2023, Darjeeling: The ex-servicemen of the Hills took out a silent protest rally at the Mall against the alleged shifting of the 163 military hospitals from Lebong to Tawang and for the shutting down of the Gorkha Recruitment Depot (GRD) at Ghoom. 

They have threatened to lay down on the road and halt all attempts of transferring the hospital from the spot, if their pleas fall to deaf ears. 

The protestors squatted at the Mall carrying posters of the retired servicemen that stated “Stop moving out 163 military hospitals from Lebong,” and “Stop closure of GRD in Ghoom.” 

“The rally is to attract the attention of the general masses, the Union Government, the West Bengal Government and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). If this fails to derive the desired results, we will beef up the agitation. Why shift the hospital to some other place? Can’t the Centre build a new hospital?” questioned Colonel (Retd) Keshab Rai, president, Bharatiya Gorkha Bhutpurva Sainik Ardha Sainik Sangathan. 

He also said that there was a buzz about shifting the hospital earlier. “Now, we hear that an order has also been issued to shift the hospital to Tawang in May,” added Colonel Rai. Stressing on reasons that are enough to be fearful, he said that in October 2019, the record office of Darjeeling was shut down and documents were transferred. It may also be noted that earlier, service related issues and other problems of the Army were resolved in a week. 

However, now, they take months to get solved as the record office is not present. “We don’t want a repetition of this kind with the GRD” added Col. Rai. 

There are around 20,000 ex-servicemen in the Darjeeling Hills. On December 12, 2022, the Association had written a letter to Defence minister, Rajnath Singh, expressing concern over this issue. In a reply stated December 22, 2022, the Union minister had stated that he had brought it to the notice of the concerned authorities. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengla/ex-servicemen-warn-of-stir-over-shifting-of-army-hospital-507297