Punjab: Okayed several years ago, 2 Doaba colleges yet to see the light of day
After coming to power in 2022, chief minister Bhagwant Mann, along with former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, had laid the foundation stone of Hoshiarpur medical college in November 2023 named after revolutionary Udham Singh; ₹412 crore were allocated for the project
The Shaheed Bhagat Singh Government Medical College, the stone for which was laid by chief minister Bhagwant Mann in Nawashahr on Sunday, is the third such facility announced for the Doaba region in the past six years but the previous two colleges, announced in 2019 and 2020, are yet to see the light of day.
The then Congress government in the state had approved a medical college in Hoshiarpur in 2020 and another in Kapurthala in 2019 to mark the 550th celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev birth anniversary.
The construction of both these colleges has been delayed as the officials concerned have failed to find any bidder despite floating tenders for more than four times. An official, wishing not to be named, said the bidders refused to go ahead due to certain technical and financial clauses.
After coming to power in 2022, chief minister Bhagwant Mann, along with former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, had laid the foundation stone of Hoshiarpur medical college in November 2023 that was named after revolutionary Udham Singh. The AAP government even allocated ₹412 crore for the project.
In Kapurthala, the administration had finalised 20 acres at the civil hospital for construction of the medical college at the cost of ₹428.69 crore but the project failed to take off till date.
Health minister Balbir Singh was not available for comments.
