The laying of the foundation stone of the fifth new medical college in Nawanshahr by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday has led to a lot of furore across the state, particularly due to the lack of progress on the previous four projects, which have been stalled for over three to five years.
The four previously announced projects include two in the Malwa region — Mastuana Sahib (Sangrur) and Malerkotla — and two in the Doaba region — Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala. All four projects have failed to move forward, prompting Opposition leaders to criticise the government for focusing on new initiatives while existing ones remain incomplete. These projects were to be undertaken with a 60:40 funding ratio, with the Centre contributing the larger share.
The AAP government had promised to establish 16 new medical colleges across Punjab to ensure that students interested in pursuing MBBS course would not need to migrate to countries like Ukraine. The medical college project in Kapurthala, announced in 2019, has made little progress. The college was slated to be built on 20 acres at the Civil Hospital at an estimated cost of Rs 428.69 crore, and the announcement was made during the 550th Parkash Purb of Shri Guru Nanak Dev.
BJP leader from Kapurthala, Umesh Sharda, criticised the CM for making what he called a “white lie” during his Sunday speech, in which Mann claimed to be laying the third stone for a medical college in the Doaba region. Sharda said the CM had never laid a stone in Kapurthala, only visiting for a brief interaction with officials in December 2023. Sharda also pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was originally supposed to lay the foundation stone in December 2021 during a rally in Ferozepur, but that rally was cancelled. He further criticised the state government for not using the Rs 70 crore released by the Centre in March 2020, which has not been put to use ever since. The file regarding tenders for the project, released in July 2023, has been stalled in the CM’s office, but no one knows its status, he fumed.
The medical college project in Hoshiarpur, approved in January 2020, was to be built on 23 acres of land at a cost of Rs 320 crore. The Centre had released Rs 190 crore for this project for this non-starter project too. CM Mann had announced to name the project after Shaheed Udham Singh, with the escalated cost of project pegged at Rs 418.3 crore. Despite floating tenders three times, no responses have been received.
Sultanpur Lodhi Independent MLA Rana Inder Partap raised concerns about the escalating costs of these stalled projects during the recent Assembly session. He urged the CM to begin construction at the earliest, warning that the increasing cost of construction would make it even more challenging for the government to carry out these projects in the future.
The foundation stone for the Sant Attar Singh State Institute of Medical Sciences at Mastuana Sahib in Sangrur was laid by the CM in August 2022. Mann had announced that the project would include the construction of an academic block, as well as the expansion of the existing Civil Hospital in Sangrur from 220 to 360 beds. The project also included plans for a nursing school, hostels for both senior and junior girls and boys, and other facilities. For the minority medical college at Malerkotla, the Centre had agreed to contribute Rs 195 crore as its 60 per cent share. However, no work has commenced on either of these projects, despite the stone for Malerkotla being laid by former CM Capt Amarinder Singh in June 2021.
The Tribune
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