Una MLA reviews progress of work on PGI satellite hospital

Local MLA Satpal Singh Satti inspected the ongoing construction of the proposed PGI satellite hospital in the Malahat area of Una. Engineers from the construction agency and doctors from PGI were also present during the visit.

Satti, while speaking to mediapersons, said that the then Union Health Minister JP Nadda had sanctioned the project in May 2019, when the Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government was in power in Himachal. He added that Union Government projects were sanctioned on a condition that the state would provide land for construction and ensure arrangements for drinking water, sewerage facility, electricity and an approach road.

According to Satti, the Virbhadra Singh government did not allocate funds for sewerage, water, electricity and road infrastructure, delaying the project’s progress. He added that when the BJP formed government a year later, the Jai Ram Thakur-led regime allotted a 403-kanal government plot for the hospital and sanctioned Rs 14 crore for the required basic amenities. He claimed that most of this amount was released during the BJP government’s tenure. The Central Government had approved Rs 450 crore for the project, of which works worth Rs 250 crore had been completed.

Satti said that the completed structures included outpatient and inpatient department buildings, administrative block, guesthouse, emergency complex and residential facilities for doctors and nurses. He added that the hospital could become functional within the next two months, benefiting patients from lower Himachal regions as well as neighbouring areas of Punjab.

He alleged that funds for the setting up a sewerage system were still awaited from the state government, which, he claimed, was delaying the commissioning of the hospital. The sewerage project was estimated to cost Rs 4.55 crore, of which Rs 1 crore had already been sanctioned and deposited with the construction agency. The Rs 3.55-crore work remains pending.

Satti said that he had raised the matter during the recent Assembly session and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who holds the Jal Shakti portfolio, requested Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to release the remaining amount. However, Satti added the Chief Minister’s reply, indicating that funds may be considered in the next Budget, was disappointing.