Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Saturday alleged that the Congress Government in Punjab was deliberately delaying commissioning of the Rs 925 crore AIIMS Bathinda project by refusing to give statutory approvals and making the site encumbrance free because of petty political considerations.
In a statement here, the Union Minister said it seemed the Congress Government had got jittery when the Union Health Ministry announced that it would start construction on the site in June this year and start OPD for diagnostics in February, 2019.
“It seems start of medical facilities for the people of the region was not to the liking of the Congress Government which felt the SAD-BJP alliance would get political credit for the same. It is a shame that the people of the Malwa region are being denied advanced medical care, including much needed cancer treatment, because of such despicable anti-people thinking of the Congress party,” she said in her statement.
The Bathinda MP said there could be no other reason for the deliberate go-slow tactic of the Congress Government despite the fact that she had repeatedly written letters detailing approvals and civil works needed to start construction on the 177 acre AIIMS project site. “Now union Health Minister JP Nadda has also again written a letter to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh asking him to personally intervene to make the AIIMS project a reality”.
The Minister said she had tried her best to take up this issue with the Chief Minister and also with the Bathinda district administraton.