Bhubaneswar: Odisha govt on Monday renamed the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Phulbani, after slain VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and sanctioned Rs 13 crore for preservation and development of the Jalespata Ashram in Kandhamal, where the seer and four associates were assassinated in 2008.Announcing the decision, CM Mohan Charan Majhi said the medical college was being named after the seer “to honour his service and sacrifice for Kandhamal’s tribal communities.” The institution, which began MBBS admissions in the 2025-26 academic session, has an annual intake of 100 students.Of the Rs 13 crore sanctioned from the Chief Minister’s Special Assistance (CMSA) fund, Rs 5 crore will be used to build a 300-seat girls’ hostel at the ashram, while Rs 3 crore has been earmarked for preservation of the seer’s heritage site. A mega river-lift project costing Rs 60 lakh will provide water supply to the ashram, its school and the Kanyashram girls’ hostel. The package also includes funds for construction of toilets, additional hostel infrastructure, boundary walls, classrooms and renovation of existing buildings.The move comes on a day the govt ordered a crime branch probe into the missing judicial inquiry report on the killing and a day ahead of the release of a book on the seer in Bhubaneswar.RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale is scheduled to release a book on Laxmanananda Saraswati in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday in the presence of Majhi and former Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Saraswati spent over four decades working among tribal and Scheduled Caste communities in Kandhamal, establishing schools, hostels and welfare institutions. Known for his campaign against religious conversions, he was among the most influential Hindu religious figures in the region. He and four associates were shot dead during Janmashtami celebrations at Jaleshpatta Ashram on Aug 23, 2008, triggering large-scale communal violence in Kandhamal.
