The proposed Rs 600-crore Medical College and Hospital to be set up by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) here faces an uncertain future. Thanks to the indecision of the Union Ministry of labour, the project has failed to take off.
Way back in 2008, it was decided to set up the facility at the capital city and the State Government had acquired 25 acres of land near Jagannathpur on the outskirts of the city. According to plans, the medical college was to start in 2013-14, but till date construction works have not commenced.
There is a lot of confusion over setting up the medical college as there is a demand to set up an ESIC Medical College at Rourkela. Accordingly, a team of the Union Government headed by the Union Secretary of labour had visited both the places last year and was supposed to give its report.
But officials in Department of labour and ESIC of the State Government are clueless about the report. At least Rs 12.5 crore has already been spent to erect a boundary wall to protect the 25 acres of land from any encroachment, said an official.
The ESIC is setting up 16 such medical colleges across the country. While the other projects are reportedly progressing swiftly, the Odisha project is facing uncertainty.
In Himachal Pradesh, the ESIC Medical College has started operating in a rented accommodation with intake of students from this academic year.
Sundargarh MP Hemanand Biswal is betting for an ESIC Medical College at Rourkela and he justifies his demand saying the number of Insured Persons (IP)s are quite high in this region and the place still lacks any such facilities.
He is the Chairman of the Standing Committee of labor and his claim for setting up the ESIC Medical College has put the Ministry of labor in a fix.