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SAD against govt’s proposal to give autonomy to GMC
Say that privatising the college will curtail its funding
Members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), on Wednesday, strongly objected to the Punjab government’s proposal to convert Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital into an autonomous institution.
They said that privatising the college will curtail its funding. The SAD members said that their party will not allow the state government to convert the college into an autonomous institution.
While speaking at a press conference, former Patiala mayors Ajitpal Singh Kohli and Amarinder Singh Bajaj, among others, said that the state government is trying to privatise the college in the name of providing it an autonomous status.
They said that doctors, paramedical staff and class IV employees are already protesting against the government’s move to restructure administrative setup of Government Medical College and Hospital. The out-patient department and operation theatre remained suspended for two hours.
Kohli said that the Punjab government is curtailing funding to government-run hospitals and medical colleges. If the medical college is made private, the common man will suffer. He said that these institutes need an annual budget of ₹1500 crore for upgrade to develop it on the lines of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
“But the state has not given more than ₹500 crore to all medical colleges in the state. The state government should release grants as per requirement under the existing administrative structure,” he said.
They said that the chief minister along with the medical education and research department should issue a clarification on this issue. He added that if the staff of the college will go on a strike, SAD workers will join them too.
