The Hemant Soren government’s decision to rename a healthcare scheme launched by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government after Mother Teresa has kicked up a political storm, with the Opposition accusing it of “pushing a conversion agenda”.
Earlier this week, the Jharkhand Cabinet decided to rename the Atal Mohalla Clinic. Launched under the Raghubar Das-led BJP government as a tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the scheme aims at strengthening health infrastructure in urban slums and provides free primary healthcare services — including consultations, medicines, and diagnostic tests.
The decision to rename it ‘Mother Teresa Advance Health Clinics’ was taken at Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s cabinet meeting earlier in the week. The chief minister also approved 20 other key proposals at this meeting.
The BJP called it an attempt to “promote religious conversion”, claiming it was part of a “larger conspiracy”. The BJP has long been alleging there’s an attempt to convert the state’s tribals to Christianity.
“What contribution has Mother Teresa made to Jharkhand?” senior BJP leader and former Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri said Saturday at a media briefing in Ranchi. “The blueprint for a separate Jharkhand was based on the BJP’s Vananchal vision, which was a gift from Atal ji. Religious conversion is a serious issue in the state, and Hemant Soren is using this name change to further that agenda.”
BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey too raked up the name change, accusing the Soren government of “trying to erase Vajpayee’s name”. He then went on to call the government’s actions “cheap”, saying that the chief minister seemed to be “preparing to end up in jail again”.
“If the government wants to work in the name of Teresa, they can start a new initiative. Why rename a scheme named after Atal ji?” he said. “By changing the name, the government has acted in a disgraceful manner. The current conduct of the state administration suggests that the CM of Jharkhand, who is also Congress’s favourite, seems ready to go to jail once more”.
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Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha dismissed the charges as “politically motivated and baseless”.
“Mother Teresa may not have been awarded the Bharat Ratna, but she was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for dedicating her entire life to serving the poor, the oppressed, the marginalised, and the sick. Illness knows no religion, and she provided healthcare to thousands without discrimination. Her work was directly connected to health, making her name rightfully fit for such a scheme,” he said.
Taking a jibe at BJP, the JMM alleged that the party had “run out of real issues”, claiming it was the “BJP that started the trend of renaming things across the country”.
“Those holding press conferences have already been rejected by the people in elections… BJP trying to polarise votes in the name of religion and nationality, accusing people of being Bangladeshi when Jharkhand doesn’t even share a border with Bangladesh,” he said.
