BJP seeks details on fate of medical college in Kalahandi
With no progress of the proposed medical college at Bhangabari near Bhawanipatna, the district headquarters town of Kalahandi District, the BJP on Thursday sought to know the fate of the institute from the State government.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone of the medical college at a grand ceremony in November, 2016. He had promised that construction work of the institute will be completed by 2018 and admission of the first batch for undergraduate medical courses will start from 2019-20 academic session.
The medical college was scheduled to be established with financial support from Vedanta Foundation. The company had projected an estimated investment of Rs 100 crore to provide infrastructural support for the project.
“The State government has provided 40 acres of land on the outskirts of the district headquarters town for the medical college. Only a small portion of the boundary wall has been constructed during the last six months,” said senior BJP leader and former minister Pradip Nayak.
“I don’t think the CM is serious about the medical college in Kalahandi district as there is no budgetary provision for the project. It was a political stunt of the BJD before the panchayat elections,” Nayak said.
Besides, the State government is not making any serious efforts to restart the medical college at Jaring set up by Selvam Educational and Charitable Trust of Tamil Nadu.
The fate of the college built on a public-private partnership (PPP) model has remained uncertain after withdrawal of letter of permission by Medical Council of India (MCI). Though the State government has scrapped its MoU with Selvam Trust, there is no visible efforts to rope in fresh investors for revival of the institute, said BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma.
Nayak said a delegation of the State BJP will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and request him for a medical college in the tribal dominated district with Central assistance.
IIM Sambalpur
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