SHIKARPUR: The 75th death anniversary of Rai Bahadur Udhodas Tara Chand, a polite poet of Shikarpur, who founded Rai Bahadur Udhoda Tara Chand Hospital Shikarpur was observed at Shikarpur Press Club. Save Shikarpur and Club jointly organized the event. Udhodas son of Tara Chand, a sugar trader was born in 1870 in Shikarpur district. Speakers including President Press Club, Abdul Salam Unar, Ayaz Mangi, Nasim Bhukhari, Haseeb Nayab Mangi, Dr Aamir Abbas Soomro, Abdul Sattar Kaladki, Dr Aamir Abbas Soomro, PPP member Sindh assembly, Imtiaz Shaikh, Dr Masood Badvi, Dr Kazi Khursheed MS RBUT Hospital, Zahid Bhanbhro, Sultan Rind, Sain Satiapal and others highlighted the services rendered by Rai Bahadur and termed to him polite and kind person of Shikarpur and vowed to keep such meetings for remembering him. Rai was fond of poetry and on his mother’s death due to meager medical treatment facilities decided to establish a health institute for people welfare in 1933. Before that a Victoria dispensary, known as Dhong Wari Hospital was set up in 1857 and it was single source providing free medical treatment to people of Shikarpur. It is also known as Lakhmi Chand Tek Chand Dispensary after renaming in 1920. On Shikarpur Municipal Committee request to British government for establishing a hospital in 1908, Udhodas took decision and after correspondence with Municipal Committee and British government established this hospital on purchasing land at Rs 23,000 from Pir Surhandi and also gave Rs 25,000 as donation for establishing public hospital while Udhodas donated Rs 100,000. The construction work started on April 30, 1933 after a ribbon cutting ceremony by H T Soorli, then Collector Sukkur district. Sukkur was district and Shikarpur was its taluka in August 1901 and all offices of Shikarpur including district Jail had moved to Sukkur in 1883 and Shikarpur Jail had once again moved to Shikarpur in 1910, according to history books, however Shikarpur restored it identity as district in 1977. Published in Daily Times, January 18th 2018.