Rourkela: Muktikanta Biswal, who walked around 1,550 km to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Sunday morning received a warm welcome during his return to Rourkela.
He walked all the way to the national capital to remind the Prime Minister about his promises of a super specialty hospital in Rourkela three years ago.
Amid a grand procession with beats of dhol and music, hundreds of people welcomed Biswal with much fanfare. He was garlanded and taken to a nearby temple where he offered prayers to the deities.
While everyone was happy to see him back in the town, Muktikanta expressed his disappointment at not meeting the Prime Minister. He hasn’t been allowed to meet Modi though Muktikanta had resorted to a sit-in protest for several days in New Delhi.
Rourkela MP Jual Oram has also failed to arrange Muktikanta’s meeting with the Prime Minister.
Commenting over his further course of action, Muktikanta said his fight would continue until all the promises of the PM are fulfilled. “We
will unite the people of the city and make them aware about the demands,” Muktikanta added.
It may be noted that Muktikanta after walking around 1,550 km for over 70 days, had reached Delhi June 27 to remind Modi of the promises he made April 1, 2015.
Modi had promised to upgrade SAIL’s Ispat General Hospital into a super speciality hospital and medical college. The PM also had assured to take steps for the construction of second Brahmani bridge in Rourkela.
When there was no further development on the promises even after three years, Mukthikanta decided to walk to the capital.
During the journey, he had fallen ill on several occasions and was admitted to hospitals but he eventually reached Delhi. Unfortunately, he couldn’t meet the Prime Minister. He then held a hunger strike initially at Ramlila Maidan and later at Jagannath Temple, Hauz Khas.
PNN
