Jamaat yet to fulfil Tk 50 lakh pledge to Radda centre

The Radda Healthcare Centre in Mirpur-1, Dhaka, which was vandalised and looted nearly two weeks ago, is still waiting for a Tk 50 lakh grant announced by Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman for its repair and reconstruction.

When contacted to know whether grant has been received, the Radda Healthcare Centre Executive Director Dr Nasrin Akter said, “There is no update on the matter. They may have plans regarding it, but I am unaware of them. So, it would not be appropriate to make any comment now,” she said.

On September 25, a group of people armed with hammers, sticks and other local weapons attacked the centre under Shah Ali Police Station. They demolished a semi-pucca building with an excavator and vandalised a family planning service room, furniture, and the doors and windows of the ultrasonography, vaccination and laboratory rooms.

The attackers allegedly looted two ultrasonography machines, a generator, computers, printers, refrigerators, air conditioners, steel cabinets, medicines and other equipment. They also threatened night guards and later put up banners and signboards of a shopkeepers’ cooperative society at the premises.

The incident sparked widespread outrage. On September 28, Shafiqur Rahman, also the opposition leader in parliament, visited the damaged facility and announced Tk 50 lakh for its repair and reconstruction.

He said the centre was an important public welfare institution providing healthcare services to the general public and expressed hope that the grant would help renovate the damaged structure and purchase essential, high-value equipment to resume medical services for mothers and children.

Shafiqur Rahman said Radda had been providing healthcare, particularly to mothers and children, for nearly five decades without any political agenda.

Condemning the attack, he demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible and urged the government to improve law and order.

The staff at the centre expressed hope that assistance from government or non-government sources would help repair the damaged facility and restore healthcare services.

Meanwhile, when asked about the update, Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Maulana Abdul Halim said, “We have the funds. The process of determining the recipient is currently underway. We want the money goes to only the institution, not anyone else.”