Punjab CM Mann lays foundation stone of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Govt Medical College
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday laid the foundation stone of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Government Medical College at Barnala Kalan village in Nawanshahr.
The medical college will be built at a cost of Rs 300 crore. The CM announced this during his address at the state-level event commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev at Khatkar Kalan, Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village.
This will be the third medical college in Doaba. CM Mann has previously laid the foundation stones of medical colleges in Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala.
Addressing the gathering, the CM said, “This was a long-standing demand of the area. The MLA and the people were also demanding better medical services here. If anyone fell sick, they had to go as far as DMC Ludhiana, Jalandhar, or to PGI. There was no hospital or medical college nearby. I have just laid the foundation stone near the civil hospital. With the new college, there will be a 100-bed addition to the civil hospital, and the college will have 50 MBBS seats.”
The CM also said, “Apart from this college, we also have medical colleges at Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Malerkotla, and Sangrur. Our students used to go to Ukraine to pursue their MBBS. When the war in Ukraine started, we had to bring them back. Why don’t we ensure that they pursue their MBBS here (in the state)?”
Earlier, the CM paid tributes at the martyrs’ memorial at Khatkar Kalan and also paid floral tributes at Bhagat Singh’s bedecked statue on the memorial premises. His visit was held amidst tight security, and traffic diverted as early as Phagwara. Hundreds of posters of the CM and AAP dotted the periphery and environs of the martyrs’ memorial. He also felicitated the family members of Bhagat Singh. The CM was accompanied by Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, various members of his cabinet, MLAs, and AAP leaders.
The upcoming college will have new departments in medicine, surgery, paediatrics, orthopaedics, gynaecology, and emergency care will be strengthened. Similarly, ICU, trauma centre, and diagnostic labs will be upgraded to handle more complex cases. Advanced medical equipment and technology will be introduced to improve patient care. The hospital will be transformed into a state-of-the-art teaching hospital.
