United Kingdom (UK) has offered its technical support and cooperation to Haryana to set up medical colleges, training of paramedics and other supporting staff posted in Government hospitals and introduce English training programmes in educational institutions of the State through British Council.
The British High Commissioner to India, Dominic Asquith KCMG, who held a meeting with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Wednesday also evinced interest in mutual collaboration in other key areas of smart city project, aero-space, defence skill education, health care, agro-industries, textile, bio-energy and food processing.
During the meeting, Manohar lal said that a scheme has been prepared to open a medical college in each district of the State to provide quality medical education to the students and prepare a sufficient number of new doctors to meet future requirement.
He said that UK could lend its support in raising infrastructure of these colleges and also in introducing training programmes for paramedics and other supporting staff posted in Government hospitals. Apart from this, it could also share its expertise with Haryana in the field of primary health care, said he.
While referring to the offer made by Dominic to introduce English training programmes in Haryana, the Chief Minister appreciated this programme and said that the State Government would look forward to implement it in selected Government schools on pilot basis.
Dominic informed the Chief Minister that British Council, Chandigarh is already running various English training programmes for teachers and students to further enhance their skills.
Referring to the smart city project of Central Government, Manohar lal said that two cities of Haryana namely Karnal and Faridabad have been selected in the list of 100 cities to be developed as smart cities in the country.
He said that though Gurgaon could not find place in the list of smart cities, it would be developed as a smarter city for which funds would be provided by the State Government.
Dominic said that it could be a good opportunity for British companies having specialisation in project design management to partner Haryana in developing such cities.
It was informed in the meeting that keeping in view the space crunch in Delhi for Government buildings including embassies of various foreign countries, two towers namely India Tower and International Tower are proposed to be constructed in the Global City being developed in Gurgaon.
The British High Commissioner was also informed that the State Government has a plan to develop a series of sector-specific theme parks along the 135 kilometer long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway to ensure systematic economic development along the highway.
The 135-km-long KMP expressway passes through six districts of Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Gurgaon, Mewat and Palwal. The Palwal-Manesar stretch of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway has already been completed and made operational.
Apart from this, an aviation hub is being developed in Hisar, which would also have Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility. About 3000 acres of land is available with the Government for this project.
Many leading companies, including the Pratt and Whitney, which is an American aerospace manufacturer, have shown keen interest in this project.
During the meeting, Haryana Industries Minister Capt Abhimanyu thanked UK for becoming key partner country in the first ever Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit-2016 organised at Gurgaon in March this year.
He said that during the summit, various leading British Companies have also signed MoUs with Haryana.
Earlier, the Chief Minister invited Dominic for the Golden Jubilee year celebrations of the State on November 1, 2016.