Month on, Punjab without medical education Secretary

Tribune News Service

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, August 28

Though the government has gone gaga about opening 16 new medical colleges in the state in the next five years, the reality is that the department is headless for the past one month.

Principal Secretary, Medical Education and Research, Husan Lal superannuated last month and the state government has not only failed to fill the post, but has also not given the additional charge of the department to any officer. According to department officials, it has never happened before that the department remained without a secretary for even a week.

The outcome of the government lethargy is that most projects related to medical education are in a limbo. Any administrative secretary acts as the administrative head of the ministry and acts as principal adviser of the minister on all matters of policy and administration within his ministry/department. He acts as an important bridge between the minister and the department.

Now, all files related to medical education and research, which are to be dealt with by the government, are stuck in the department. No meetings to check the progress of the ongoing projects have been convened in the recent past.

The state of affairs in the department is such that early this month, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had laid the foundation stone of Baba Atar Singh State Institute of Medical Sciences, Mastuana (Sangrur), which was supposed to be the first of the 16 medical colleges. However, due to a land dispute, the project is stuck in a legal hassle.

Even Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, is being run under an ad hoc arrangement and the government is yet to form a search and selection committee for selecting the new Vice Chancellor. Director, Medical Education and Research, Avneesh Kumar has been given the charge of Vice Chancellor for now.

Minister for Health, Medical Education and Research Chetan Singh Jouramajra said the process for choosing a new secretary was on and would be completed in two days.

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