Tribal Youth Council Urges State to Set Up Rural Health Research Unit in Senapati

Senapati, July 14: The Tribal Youth Council Manipur (General Headquarters) has submitted a representation to the Chief Secretary of Manipur, urging the government to consider Senapati district as the site for the Model Rural Health Research Unit to be established under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

The unit is part of a project funded by the Department of Health Research and the Indian Council of Medical Research, with one such centre sanctioned for Manipur. The state government has proposed two potential sites, Senapati and Kakching. A joint team from the Indian Council of Medical Research, Regional Medical Research Centre for Northeast, along with officials from the state Health Services, surveyed both districts on July 3, 2025.

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The council referred to the official guidelines of the scheme, which highlight the need to improve health services and medical infrastructure in rural and remote areas. They pointed out that valley districts like Kakching already have adequate government and private hospitals, unlike hill districts such as Senapati, where healthcare facilities remain poor and insufficient.

Emphasising equity in access to healthcare, the council questioned the logic of prioritising regions with existing infrastructure and urged the government to focus on underserved areas, especially for tribal communities living in remote regions.

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The council stressed that establishing the unit in Senapati would align with the scheme’s goal of delivering quality health services and technology to rural populations, and called for the government to ensure justice and fairness in the final decision.