PM dedicates AIIMS Bathinda, Sangrur PGI satellite centre to public
Attending the main event in his home state Gujarat on Sunday, the PM said the healthcare institutes would cater to the needs of the underserved region of Punjab.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) satellite centre in Ferozepur on Sunday. On the occasion, Modi also dedicated a ₹925 crore AIIMS Bathinda and a 300-bed PGIMER satellite centre in Sangrur built with ₹449 crore to the nation through virtual mode. The three healthcare projects are worth ₹1,854.54 crore.
The development came two years after the PM’s convoy witnessed security breach while he was on the way to Ferozepur to lay the foundation stone of the mega healthcare project.
Ahead of the last Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, Modi had multiple public events in Ferozepur on January 5, 2022. Due to heavy rain, Modi had to take the road route from Bathinda to Ferozepur when his convoy was exposed to a security threat as a group of farmer union members blocked the highway being used by the political dignitary.
After the convoy of PM was stranded for half an hour on a flyover in Ferozepur in 2022, Modi did not address a public rally at PGI satellite centre site and eventually returned to Bathinda to board the flight back to Delhi.
A few days later, the Supreme Court ordered an inquiry and the Punjab government has now started taking action against several police officials, including former director general of police (DGP) Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, then Faridkot DIG Inderbir Singh and then Ferozepur SSP Harmabir Singh Hans.
Attending the main event in his home state Gujarat on Sunday, the PM said the healthcare institutes would cater to the needs of the underserved region of Punjab.
The much-hyped PGI satellite centre was approved in 2013 by the UPA government to boost healthcare facilities in the border region but several hurdles in the last over a decade delayed the project.
The Ferozepur satellite centre will have 30 intensive care and high-dependency beds. It will also have 10 clinical specialty departments and five other supporting departments. It will also have a facility for major surgeries.
No representative from the Punjab government was invited to the event.
Harsimrat interrupted for raking up farmers’ protest at Modi event
Former Union Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal was interrupted during her speech on Sunday by some people amongst the audience who objected to her raising the farmers’ protest at the inauguration of AIIMS Bathinda by the Prime Minister.
She urged the governor to intervene to end the deadlock between the Centre and farmer unions. “During the previous farmer agitation, nearly 700 farmers had died and in the last few days also a young farmer lost his life in firing (by Haryana Police) and several others suffered serious injuries. I appeal to the state BJP president and Union minister present at the event to resolve the matter as it is also hurting the economic interests of Punjab,” she added.
Harsimrat also raised a demand to open a 300-bed trauma centre at AIIMS.
Speaking to reporters after the event, the MP mocked those who booed her during her address.
“A true Punjabi is genuinely standing with farmers and sloganeering was done only by a handful of the crowd,” she added.
In their public addresses before Modi’s speech, Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Som Prakash snubbed Harsimrat for raising the issue of farmer agitation in Punjab saying “function like the dedication of AIIMS to the nation is not the place where external issues should be discussed”.
“Issues of farmers are close to our hearts and the Modi government has done much in the agriculture sector. The government lines are open, and talks are ongoing, and a solution will be found for all outstanding problems,” said Puri.
However, he seconded Harsimrat’s demand to start a trauma centre and said the Centre is considering it.