The commemoration event for the SM Deb Civil Hospital, Silchar for its 100 years anniversary brought with it is a lot of new promises but also illuminated some areas where more clarity is required, especially regarding its history. As a resident of Silchar, the “Civil Hospital,” as it is simply known colloquially, is still remains an institution dedicated to provide affordable health care to those who need it. It also seems to be the policy direction that the current government is taking, by sanctioning the expansion of the hospital to a 300 bed hospital with diagnostic tools and equipment constantly being upgraded. Therefore, since the future of the hospital looks bright, there is a need to also reduce the murkiness behind its history.
This becomes a necessity because of the issues that arise from its past. One such aspect is its name. the land where the Civil Hospital now stands, was donated by one Fasai Mia for the hospital out of his goodwill for the region. Some have raised the issue that, naming the hospital as Satindra Mohan Deb Civil Hospital bears only the mark of political overreach from a certain section of the political spectrum and that the name should be changed to either Fasai Mia Civil Hospital in the memory of the person that donated the land or simply to Silchar Civil Hospital, thus removing the political tone out of the name.
That covers the few murky memories that are from the recent past. But going back to the origins of the hospital, as well, there are several things that remain a mystery. When the hospital was actually started is one of them. While, we are celebrating the 100 anniversary of the hospital suggesting its origin in the 1920s, there are some reports that the hospital might be even older than that. Some have even cited news sources where it is claimed that the Hospital was established in 1979 on the 15th of August. To sort out the confusion, the complete chronology of the hospital has been mentioned here.
The hospital that we now know as the Civil Hospital was actually started in the year 1884 as the Charitable Sadar Hospital. It was started by the Civil Society in honour of then philanthropist from Silchar, Himagshujyoti Kar. In 1920, the Viceroy of British India, Frederick John Napier made it into a Civil Hospital as we know today. On the 2nd of November in 1920 is when he laid the foundation stone for the hospital. It has continued on since then till after independence.
Interestingly, this was also where the Silchar Medical College first started. It was then moved to its current position in 1969. Following that, in 1979, on the 15th of August, the Civil Hospital was re-started or re-established by then Hon’ble PWD Minister Sri Dulal Barua Govt. of Assam. And these ebbs and flows of the starting and restarting is what caused all the ruckus in the minds of people regarding its origin. Now whether the hospital is to considered 140 years old 100 years old, is a unremarkable discussion. The fact that the people of Silchar can take pride is in the fact that that their Civil Hospital is a heritage of history that has served the region for over 100 years and continues to do so and looking at the plans that the administration has for the hospital, its importance of the region is only going to increase.
