Union Food Processing Industry Minister and SAD MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday asked Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to expedite grant of requisite no objection certificates (NOCs) for civil works which had delayed the start of work on the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bathinda by four months.
Harsimrat, in a letter to the Chief Minister, said that the delay in granting permissions for shifting of water channels which fell within the premises of the proposed institute had delayed construction of the boundary wall of the project.
“Health Department has not issued NOC for shifting of the water channels despite a request from Bathinda Deputy Commissioner on August 3, 2017. Union Health Ministry had given NOC for the proposal submitted by the State government in July 2017,” pointed Harsimrat.
She said that besides this, the Punjab Agriculture University, ludhiana, had also delayed transfer of an alternate plot of land to AIIMS as a replacement for the water tank falling inside the same plot. In this case also, the Union Health Ministry had given NOC for the transfer four months back, but in this case also, the State Health Department had not issued NOC to Bathinda Deputy Commissioner to affect the transfer, she added.
The Union Minister said that AIIMS would provide state-of-the-art health facility to the people of the region besides opening up job opportunities. “The Central Government is, on its part, committed for early completion of the institute whose foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 25, 2016,” she said.