A long-pending demand of the residents of 27 villages around Thimiri panchayat union in Ranipet has been fulfilled as work on a new primary health centre (PHC) in Kavanur village near Arcot town began on Friday.
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Accompanied by Collector S. Valarmathi, Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R. Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the ₹1.20 crore project in the village. The PHC will be the fifth such facility in Thimiri panchayat union, which consists of 55 village panchayats. The new centre will be ready in five months. “Land was the key challenge in bringing a PHC to our village. However, residents from adjoining villages chipped in to purchase the land and gifted it to the government for the new centre,” said S. Ranjith Kumar, president, Kavanur village panchayat.
A total of 26 residents, led by J.L. Eswarappan, Arcot MLA, mobilised ₹21.95 lakh in public funds to buy one acre of land for the purpose. Later, the land was donated to the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
Health officials said that simultaneously, four new sub-health centres would be set up at Kavanoor, Varagur, Punganur and Venkatapuram villages. Each sub-health centre would cater to at least 5,000 residents.