Protest in Hamirpur over closure of charitable hospital

Hamirpur: Women among hundreds of Hamirpur residents on Wednesday held a protest against the closure of a charitable hospital run by Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Bhota area here.

Raising slogans demanding the continuation of medical services at the charitable hospital, the villagers of the adjoining villages have decided to hold protests from 11 am to 4 pm daily over the failure of the state government to transfer the land of the hospital.

The villagers on Monday held a demonstration after the sect put up a notice on the hospital’s main gate informing people that it will not be able to give its services from December 1. The Radha Soami Satsang Beas has been approaching the state government to transfer the hospital’s land to its sister organisation but is facing some issues under the Land Ceiling Act.

The request for land transfer was made to obtain GST exemption in the purchase of machinery and other equipment to upgrade the hospital facilities. Located in the foothills of Himalayas, the 75-bed hospital in

Hamirpur-Shimla highway gives free medical facilities to patients and has been running since 2000. It caters to lakhs of people of over 900 villages in its 15 km radius.

Hospital administrator Colonel Jaggi (retired) said a notice has been put up on the gate following the orders received from the sect management.

As of now, no written assurance has been received from the state government, he said. The protestors were also upset over the levying of GST on hospital services despite the fact that the trust was rendering free medical services and demanded a written assurance or notification from the state government that the hospital would not be closed.