Mountaineer Kalpana seriously ill, hospitalised

Mountaineer Kalpana seriously ill, hospitalised
Puri

Mountaineer Kalpna Dash who was on a begging agitation with mouna brat and vow of fast-on-to-death was hospitalised late on Friday night. She was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital by her sympathisers and administered intra-venous fluid. The attending doctors said she had acute dehydration problem and was very weak. They referred Kalpana to the SCB Medical College and Hospital. Later her family members and supporters came from Dhenkanal and she was shifted to Cuttack. The last reports said she was taken to Dhenkanal by her family.

Kalpana was on agitation for the last nine days protesting government apathy towards sports persons of the State. The mountaineer who scaled the Mount Everest in 2008 and made the state proud was promised a Government job. Even after elapse of three years it could not materialise despite her approach to everybody concerned with the job allotment.

After her failure to get a job, she launched her agitation in a unique style - resorting to begging in front of the Sri Jagannath Temple. Her agitation evoked wide-spread response and many institutions and social activists of the State and of this holy city pledged their moral support to her. The Lawyers of the local bar squatted at the site expressing solidarity with her cause. Many important personalities of the State have appealed the Chief Minister to give her a job at the earliest.