The Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy (RRIH) was inaugurated by the central government on the outskirts of Siliguri on Monday.

The institute, sources said, will work under the Central Council Research Homoeopathy, which functions under the Union ministry of AYUSH.

Munjpara Mahendrabhai Kalubhai, the Union minister of state for both Ayush and woman and child development, inaugurated the centre at Chhota Pathuram Jote, a locality near North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Matigara block of Siliguri subdivision.

The RRIH, sources said, will have a standardised general and research outpatient department (OPD), yoga therapy facilities and a laboratory. A sum of Rs 9.42 crore has been spent for the centre.

“In due course, the infrastructure at the regional institute will be upgraded. New facilities like indoor departments, research laboratories, imaging facilities and other modern healthcare amenities will be introduced for patients of this region,” said a source.

Raju Bista, the BJP MP of Darjeeling, who was present at the event, said the OPD here would provide low-cost treatment to common people and free treatment to those from the BPL category.

“The centre will focus on holistic healthcare in the region and will provide an avenue for our citizens to avail benefits of alternative medicinal practices,” Bista said.

The MP said he was working on proposals to open a Regional Research Institute for Ayurveda and Medicinal Plants in Mungpoo under Kurseong sub-division of Darjeeling district, and a Sowa Rigpa Centre in Kalimpong.

Sowa Rigpa, an alternative treatment system, is being carried out under the monitoring of the National Institute of Sowa Rigpa, also under the same ministry.

“These traditional medicinal practices will help the region and in the coming days, Darjeeling hills, the Terai and the Dooars will emerge as a hub of alternative medicine and naturopathy,” the MP added.

Earlier on Monday, the visiting Union minister, the Darjeeling MP and BJP leaders of the district joined the party's Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, a campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 15 last year at Khunti in Jharkhand.

With the Lok Sabha polls near, the BJP is focusing on this outreach to ensure that central welfare schemes reach the grassroots.