2 years on, Palwal nursing college remains non-starter

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Palwal, September 22

The first General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) Training College of the district inaugurated over two years ago is non-functional in the absence of teaching and non-teaching staff.

The college, which promises job prospects to students after training, is not expected to begin functioning before June next year.

Set up at a cost of Rs 9 crore, the college building was built on the Civil Hospital premises here in 2015, but it was formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on August 13, 2017. “Hundreds of queries from aspirants have been received in the past few years, but the exact date when the first academic session of the college will start is not certain,” said an employee of the Health Department.

While the college was expected to start immediately after inauguration, the department could not appoint the teaching faculty and non-teaching staff.

Chief Medical Officer Pradeep Sharma said that the file for the approval of the required posts and the budget had been submitted to the department. “The higher authorities have to appoint the faculty,” he added.

Congress MLA Karan Dalal alleged that it was a direct loss to hundreds of aspirants, who could have benefited if the college had been started on time. He said that the delay was deliberate and exposed the biased approach of the state government towards the Palwal constituency represented by an opposition party MLA.