Govt has stalled construction of Nahan medical college: Bindal

BJP state president Rajeev Bindal today accused the state government of deliberately halting the construction of the Nahan medical college and hospital. Bindal, while addressing mediapersons here, alleged that the government was “discontinuing” development projects instead of completing them.

He said that the Central Government had sanctioned Rs 261 crore for the project under which a seven-storey structure of the proposed 11 stories of the 300-bed hospital had already been built. However, construction had remained stalled for the past three years and the Congress government had now completely stopped the work on the hospital. He added that though Rs 21 crore had been sanctioned for a mother and child hospital and Rs 70 crore for a nursing college, construction had not begun on both projects, raising fears of fund misappropriation.

He said that the decision to shift the medical college to a new site was “unfortunate” and questioned the government how long it would take for forest clearances, electricity, water, road access and tenders to materialise. He added that shifting the facility would now cost over Rs 1,000 crore though land, parking and staff accommodation were available at the existing site.

Bindal alleged that during the three years of the Congress rule, the state had seen “lockdowns instead of development”. He added that Kala Amb sub-tehsil and five patwar circles were disbanded merely because the previous BJP government had opened these, forcing villagers to travel long distances for even basic works.

Bindal also accused the government of ignoring illegal mining and closing key health and veterinary centres, including three primary health centres (PHCs), one community health centre (CHC), and several dispensaries. He added that five schools had also been shut in the Nahan constituency.