In a rare gesture to push forward the demand of the establishment of a medical college at Jagatsinghpur district headquarters town, a youth Surendra Biswal from Balikuda block has started a bicycle yatra to meet President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi. Before beginning his ride, Biswal performed Puja at the Maa Sarala Temple in Tirtol on Tuesday.
Biswal received a rousing welcome at Balikuda where hundreds of people accompanied by local PRI members, senior citizens, students, and scribes were present and wished Biswal a happy journey. Residents of Jagatsinghpur town greeted Biswal at Thana Chhak here on Wednesday where he addressed the gathering.
Speaking to mediapersons, Biswal informed that he would present a memorandum to President Murmu. "Since Murmu is daughter of Odisha, I hope she will consider my demands and take the needful action," Biswal said.
The demand for establishing a medical college at Jagatsinghpur has been ignored for long by the successive Governments in the State. Two months ago a massive agitation and a peaceful Bandh were held at Jagatsinghpur on the medical college issue but it fell on deaf ear of the State Government, he said.
Speaking on his second demand, Biswal maintained that thousands of youths and job seekers from rural areas are taking competitive examinations for jobs every year. However, they are suffering due to lack of required books and study materials. The competitive examination aspirants would benefit if a central library is opened in each block, Biswal suggested.
Divulging his New Delhi trip Biswal said that first he would meet Governor Raghubir Das at Bhubaneswar on Thursday and submit a memorandum citing the two demands, then he would move to New Delhi via Rourkela, after passing major roadways of Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh. "I expect my journey would cover almost 1800-2000 km and it would take two weeks," Biswal said.