Peravoor: Will Nehru’s name return to Peravoor Taluk Hospital? The question has surfaced once again after the Hospital Management Committee (HMC) decided to leave the final decision to the Block Panchayat governing body.

The Peravoor Government Hospital was earlier known as the Nehru Memorial Government Hospital. It was during the second government led by E M S Namboodiripad that the hospital was given the name Nehru Memorial Hospital. The hospital building, inaugurated in 1968 by then Health Minister B Wellington during the tenure of the second EMS ministry, also carried a plaque bearing the name Nehru Memorial Government Hospital.

However, over time and without any formal decision, the name `Nehru' quietly disappeared from the hospital’s title. When the old building was later demolished to make way for a new structure, the plaque too vanished.

The hospital functions under the Peravoor Block Panchayat. For the past 20 years, the Left Democratic Front had been in power in the block panchayat, but the United Democratic Front has assumed office in the current term. A new HMC was constituted a week ago and held its first meeting on Thursday presided over by Indira Sreedharan, new president of the Block Panchayat

During the meeting, vice president Baiju Varghese raised the issue of restoring the hospital’s former name. He also noted that C T Aneesh, CPM area secretary and the party’s representative in the HMC, had submitted a note of dissent. Of the 26 members of the HMC, 21 attended the meeting, and 20 of them expressed support for the proposal, the vice president said.

During the meeting, a complaint was raised that payments for milk supplied to the taluk hospital have been pending since 2021. With the government yet to clear the dues, the supply could be disrupted at any time. Meanwhile, interviews are underway for the appointment of temporary staff.

The meeting also expressed concern over the slow pace of construction of the new hospital building, noting that the delay has hindered efforts to increase dialysis sessions and streamline the functioning of other departments. A monitoring committee too was established to review the hospital’s financial matters.