PURI: Kalpana Dash was rushed to the hospital at Puri late on Friday night. The first to conquer Mt Everest from Orissa, she has not been able to take the fight against the Government any longer.Having stopped taking food from Thursday to pressurise the Government on her demands, she lost consciousness at about 11.45 pm and was taken to the district headquarters hospital first and later shifted to SCB Medical at Cuttack.Over the last week, Kalpana had been the focus of attention in the pilgrim city as she had resorted to a silent protest at the main entrance of Jagannath Temple seeking justice. The promised government job has not been provided so far. The 45-year-old mountaineer’s silent protest and begging for alms in front of the abode of Lord Jagannath was symbolic of the fact that her last refuge was the Almighty himself.In 2008 May, when Kalpana conquered Everest, things were different. Felicitations had poured in even as she took ill immediately after her feat and had to be hospitalised for a month. When she returned home, she was accorded a hero’s welcome. She was given a cash reward of ` 5 lakh and announced a plot of land in Bhubaneswar and a job by the State Government. However, the government job did not come her way. The Dhenkanal district administration, however, says it always supported Kalpana on her expeditions. “She scaled Everest in her third attempt but we were firmly behind her in all her bids. She was offered a ` 30,000 a month job by Lanco-Babandh (which is setting up a power plant in Dhenkanal) but she has not accepted it,” Collector Girish SN said.
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