Ranchi, Sept. 2: Famous Hindi poet Suryakant Tripathi “Nirala” penned his magnum opus — Saroj Smriti — in the memory of his departed daughter. Now, it is the turn of a politician to “immortalise” a beloved one who is no more.

Former Union coal minister Karia Munda lost his 35-year-old daughter Ramadi in a road accident in 2002. His granddaughter Shilpi was also killed in the mishap.

Karia now wants to preserve Ramadi’s memory by naming the maternity block of the proposed charitable hospital in Khunti after his daughter.

Besides, the entire hospital could be named after Ramadi if the authorities decide to do so. The former MP’s daughter and granddaughter were crushed to death by a speeding bus while they were crossing the busy Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway at Bundu on the morning of April 28, 2002.

The bhoomi puja for the hospital on Ranchi-Chaibasa Road, three km from Khunti, was performed recently. The hospital, spread over 2.5 acres of land, will be built at a cost of about Rs 1 crore. The hospital will have three floors, each occupying an area of about 22,000 sq ft.

Chief medical coordinator of the project, Nirmal Singh, said the proposed hospital would have 40 beds. “There will be only three blocks in the beginning — outpatient, maternity and eye. We can set up more blocks after the hospital starts to function,” he added.

According to Singh, construction of the boundary wall will start this week and part of the hospital will be ready by next year. Munda expects the hospital to be fully functional in a couple of years’ time.

The Sarvangin Gramin Vikas Samity, of which Munda is the president, will supervise the project.

Munda has approached several trusts and donors for extend support to the proposed hospital.

A team of doctors and experts has also been set up to oversee the progress of the project. Raj Mohan (in-charge of the state blindness control programme) will lend technical and medical assistance to the project while Ajay Kumar Singh (state secretary of the Indian Medical Association) will act as the adviser along with two other doctors.

“Several trusts have offered to lend their support to the hospital. The trusts will be given one block each for necessary development. The blocks will also be named after the respective trusts. While the Moga Devi Mind Trust will build the OPD, the Arjun Das Grover Trust (of Chandigarh) will develop the eye block,” Singh said.

The maternity block, as mentioned earlier, will be named after Ramadi. The hospital is expected to benefit Khunti residents, who have to come to Ranchi for their treatment at present.