Plan to set up ESI hospital, medical college in Gulbarga still on hold



The establishment of the super speciality ESI Hospital and a Central Medical College attached to it in Gulbarga City is likely to be further delayed due to the stand off between the Union and State government over the mode of allotment of the 30-acre land required for establishing the hospital and medical college.

The Union Labour and Employment Minister, Mr M. Mallikarjun Kharge, has flatly rejected the proposal of the State government to allot the land in the main campus of the Gulbarga University on lease at a cost of Rs 4.42 crores non-refundable deposit and Rs 10,000 as rent for each acre of the land allotted to the proposed hospital and medical college on lease.

Mr Kharge reiterated the demand for allotment of free land by the State government for the proposed projects since this would not only provide treatment facility to the people in a super speciality hospital, but would also help in establishment of a central medical college that would enable students of the State to get 40 per cent of seats in the admission every year.

Talking to The Hindu here, Mr Kharge cited the gesture of other States — including the Bihar Government, Himachal Pradesh government, and Kerala government — allotting land, free of cost, for the construction of the super speciality hospital and medical college in their States. “Karnataka government should follow the examples of these States and allot free land for the proposed super speciality hospital and medical college in the overall interest of the State and more particularly in the interest of developing the backward Gulbarga region,” he said.

Project benefits
Mr Kharge pointed out that the Union Government would be investing more than Rs 600 crore for the proposed super speciality hospital and medical college in Gulbarga and the State should not lose this opportunity.

The establishment of the hospital and college would result in the opening up of employment avenues to the people of the region. While 40 per cent of the seats in the medical college would be allotted to the State, the remaining 40 per cent of the seats would be allotted to the children of the Central government employees and 20 per cent of the seats to the members of the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

He said that the cost fixed for the land proposed to be given for the hospital and medical college was “unreasonable and the State Government should have come forward on its own to offer it free of cost without asking”. “We had demanded 30 acre (of) land in one piece near Gulbarga City and the State Government has identified two piece(s) of land in the main campus of the Gulbarga University and fixed an exorbitant price for it,” he said.

Work underway
Incidentally, the establishment of the medical college and super speciality hospital in Gulbarga City was the first decision announced by Mr Kharge after taking over charge as the Union Labour Minister. Mr Kharge said the foundation stone for the proposed hospital and medical college in Patna in Bihar was laid by the Lok Sabha speaker, Ms Meera Kumar, in which the Bihar Chief Minister, Mr Nitesh Kumar, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Sushil Modi, participated and the work has already begun.

Similarly, the work of construction of the hospital and medical college in Himachal Pradesh and Kerala is likely to begin shortly. “My only concern is that the Karnataka should not miss the bus by placing unreasonable demands for handing over the lands,” he said.
Source: Business Line

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Central Government Office Holiday List 2023 - DoPT Order PDF Download

7th CPC Pay Fixation on Promotion/MACP Calculator with Matrix Table

Revised Pay Scale from 1.7.2017 for Karnataka Govt Employees