The Freethought Party of India (FPI) has opposed leader of Opposition Narshingha Mishra’s proposal to name the Balangir medical College and Hospital (MCH) after poet Bhima Bhoi.
FPI general secretary B Ramchandra CST Voltaire in a Press release said in the age of modern science and technology, poet Bhima Bhoi has no relevance and hence, his name will not be inspiring for the students and teachers of medicine. “Besides, Bhima Bhoi was not a doctor. His line “Mo Jiban Pachhe Narke Padithau, Jagata Udhaar Heu”, “Praninka Arata Dukha Apramita, Dekhu Dekhu Keba Sahu are meaningless,” said Voltaire.
On the contrary, the FPI proposed that the Balangir MCH be named after renowned medical researcher and inventor of the anti-polio vaccine Dr Jonas Edward Salk.