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Fate of med colleges in Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur uncertain
The Prime Minister was to lay the foundation stone of these medical colleges on January 5 this year but it could not be done as his cavalcade was stranded on a flyover in Ferozepur, a few kilometres away from the venue for the inaugural ceremony.
The fate of two new medical colleges in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts is up in the air.
The projects – supposed to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi – hit a roadblock following the breach in his security.
The Prime Minister was to lay the foundation stone of these medical colleges on January 5 this year but it could not be done as his cavalcade was stranded on a flyover in Ferozepur, a few kilometres away from the venue for the inaugural ceremony.
The Prime Minister was to lay foundation stones of projects worth ₹42,000 crore in the state.
“Now, the new government has to take the call on how to speed up the projects. To date, there is no word on the construction of the two colleges for which the tendering process has already been done. As the foundation stones have not been laid, there is confusion over starting the work,” a senior functionary of the medical education department said.
The medical college at Kapurthala was approved by the union government in November, 2019. The Punjab government had claimed that the project would be completed by December 2020.
Out of ₹325 crore to be spent on the project, the centre was to give ₹195 crore (60% of the cost) and the Punjab government ₹130 crore (40% of the cost). The land for the project had also been finalised.
The centre had announced the setting up of the college on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
Hoshiarpur medical college was announced in January 2020. It was expected to start by December 2022.
Both medical colleges were announced by the centre under its scheme of “establishment of new medical colleges attached with district/referral hospitals”, and would have 100 seats for MBBS in the beginning, as per plans.
Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh said the project was delayed because of the PM’s security breach in January.
“The tenders for the project were also floated. But the projects can’t start without the centre’s nod. I appeal to the government to give the work a go-ahead,” said the Congress MLA.
Member of Parliament from Hoshiarpur and union minister of state, Som Parkash, however, blamed the state government for the delay.
“The centre has even sanctioned the money for the medical college in Hoshiarpur. The delay is on the part of the state government as it has failed to start the work,” he said.
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PM’s security breach behind delay
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to lay the foundation stone of these medical colleges on January 5 this year but it could not be done as his cavalcade was stranded on a flyover in Ferozepur, a few kilometres away from the venue for the inaugural ceremony
