Wait for medical college proves eternal
A watched pot never boils! It means that if you have planned something, it will take some time for fruition. It does not help if you constantly check on it, like keeping an eye on your mutual funds every morning. Give them time to grow. Three decades back, then Gurdaspur MP Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder had floated the idea of setting up a medical college and hospital. She had even discussed it threadbare with local leaders. On their part, these leaders hoped the idea will take a practical shape as time went by. However, there was a problem. The leaders regularly used to keep a tab on what was going on. In reality, they were keeping a watch on the pot. And true to the adage, the pot never boiled. The project was relegated to the back-burner. And it remained there for nearly 30 odd years. In the days leading to the Vikas Kranti rally held at the Improvement Trust ground last week, there was a lot of speculation that Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann would announce a new medical college for Gurdaspur district. The logic of the residents was that the medical college, if established in the city, would also prove to be beneficial for residents of neighbouring states like J&K and Himachal Pradesh. In fact, Capt Amarinder Singh, in his Independence Day speech in 2017, had promised that the project would be completed within two years. However, politicking meant the venture never got beyond the drawing board. Sunil Jakhar, who remained the Gurdaspur MP for 18 months, took up the issue with the authorities in Delhi but once he lost the polls to Sunny Deol in 2019, the venture died a natural death. In some of his pre-poll speeches, Deol had claimed that he would make efforts to ensure “his constituency got the health facility.” The actor’s commitments in tinsel town did not allow him to devote much time here. Hence, when it was announced that Kejriwal and Mann would address a rally in Gurdaspur, residents were expecting that an announcement would be made to this effect. However, none came and with it the morale of locals slithered down many notches. Nevertheless, they know that good things come to those who wait. Hence, the wait continues! But for how long is the moot question. By Ravi Dhaliwal
Mate Maxwell has fans in Gurdaspur
Aussie cricketer Glen Maxwell has a legion of fans in Gurdaspur. People often talk about his pyrotechnics with the willow. There are many die-hard fans of the cricketer in the city who wish that residents should dig deep into their pockets to build a statue of the cricketer, like the one they have for hockey Olympian Surjit Singh in Batala. Their logic is that Maxwell has told the world: never give up in life, come rain, shine or sleet. Any takers?
