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| Din Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital)(formerly Ripon hospitalen.wikipedia.org |
This declared heritage heritage building, for the past 123 years has withstood the test of time and climatic changes . The state PWD incharge of conservation of heritage structures in the state of Himachal Pradesh must take steps to save this historical building without compromising on its old value and aesthetics. The essential aspects of conservation must include carrying out major repairs using the same construction technique as they did in the past. Besides retaining its old value such buildings can be conserved to be reusable and the beneficiary will be the posterity.............................
The very first hospital in India was built in Shimla, then the summer capital of the Raj at the initiative of Lady Ripon, a dynamic and humane person. The foundation stone was laid on October 20, 1882 by Lord Ripon (the Viceroy and Governor General of India). He was very much revered in India and was known as the Father of Local self-government. Responsible for introducing many reforms in favor of natives, foremost among them being self-governance and freedom to the Press, the first of its kind in British India. Close to the lower bazaar in the middle of the town on the lower slope, the Ripon Hospital was declared open on May 14, 1885 by Lord Dufferin Ripon's successor mainly to serve the natives.
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| Lady Ripon, wife of lord Ripon, collections.nlm.n |
Above image: Lady Ripon, Henrietta Anne Theodosia Vyner, wife of Marquess of Ripon, Viceroy of India.
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| Liberal Viceroy of India Lord Riponglimpsesofhistory.com |
Above image Lord Ripon 1827 -1909 : When William Ewart Gladstone, liberal politician had returned to power in 1880 he appointed Ripon as Viceroy of India and he held the post till 1884. During his time in India, Ripon introduced legislation (the Ilbert Bill, named after the legal member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, Courtenay Ilbert) to grant native Indians more legal rights, this was fiercely opposed by Europeans living in India. They never wanted Europeans tried by native Indian judges in the court. Fortunately, Ripon's stauch move was well supported by Florence Nightingale; further she also backed up his efforts to pass the bill on Bengal tenancy act in 1885. the latter act helped the hapless peasants a lot. His conversion to Catholicism in 1874 was taken with a pinch of salt by the conservative politicians. Ripon had enjoyed unexampled goodwill and respect from the Indians, but to his country men in India he was a renegade.......
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| Lord Ripon indiatimes.com |
The Ripon Hospital (now known as Din Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital), was funded through public subscriptions that were raised by none other than A.O. Hume (founder of the Congress party (INA)), The architect was Henry Invin who also designed Gaiety and St. Michael's Cathedral in Shimla. He followed Swiss-gothic style considering its hill terrain. It was constructed by Campion and Learmouth, building contractors. Sir Benjamin Franklin, director-general of medical services in India in 1882 had a role in the public project. According to the Gazetteer of Shimla District of 1888-89 pre-Ripon period “the charitable dispensary built in 1844 was the only medical institution in Simla taking care of the need of the people and was functioning in an unsuitable building.''
The necessity for a hospital for the Europeans arose when Surgeon-General. Sir Benjamin Franklin, on a visit to the Ripon hospital in May 1899, found out the native patients were removed from four wards to accommodate European patients though the Ripon Hospital that was primarily intended for natives. The Gazetteer of 1904, however, reported that The Ripon hospital till 1902 served both the natives and the Europeans as well. Upon Franklin's recommendation to the government Walker hospital exclusively for the Europeans and Indigent Whites came up near Sanjauli in 1904. Sir James L Walker who was the president of Shimla Municipality in 1873-74 was the major contributor to the hospital,
Some administratives changes were effected in the later period and the female wards at Ripon's were converted into a separate Hospital called ‘The Lady Dufferin (wife of Lord Dufferin) Hospital’. and and it was done during the commemoration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
The Ripon Hospital, after independence, became part of West Punjab, India. After state reorganization, it is under the Himachal Pradesh Government.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/himachaltribune/walker-hospital-a-legacy-of-the-raj-754212
https://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080924/himp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Robinson,_1st_Marquess_of_Ripon
https://glimpsesofhistory.com/lord-ripon-1880-1884-the-liberal-viceroy
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