Despite opposition parties registering strong objection over the acquisition of the defunct cash-strapped debt-ridden Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College, Durg, the Baghel government successfully got the controversial bill passed in the Chhattisgarh Assembly on Thursday.
Notably, the proposal was wrapped in controversy before it was presented in the Chhattisgarh assembly.
Even on Thursday, BJP veterans like Ex-Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh, Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik, MLA Brijmohan Agarwal, MLA Ajay Chandrakar, MLA Narayan Chandel, Chhattisgarh Janta Congress (JCC) MLA Dharamjeet Singh put their strong arguments, the government remained undeterred and finally it got the bill passed with full majority.
Health Minister TS Singh Deo presented the bill for acquisition of the private medical college in the house and said, it will help the government to provide a well-equipped medical college at half of the price.
The Health Minister said, the state government is seriously working on the plan of providing universal health care to all of its citizens and has planned to open medical colleges in every district of the state. However, right now out of 11 Lok Sabha constituencies, 9 Lok Sabha constituencies have medical colleges. The acquisition of the 150 bedded private medical college will help in providing the medical facilities in the area.
The Health Minister clarified the government is only making acquisitions of the infrastructure and its properties, not the organization which used to run it.
MLA Brijmohan Agarwal objected to the move and said, the private entity was not only cash strapped but lying in debt and the kin of the Chandulal Chandrakar also filed a petition in the High Court to stop the acquisition of the medical college.
He said, the government is trying to play down the career of the medical students who enrolled in the college because it has now landed into a legal tangle (dispute).
Dr. Raman Singh said, the medical college was earlier once sold to Rungta Group and legal dispute erupted over the ownership yet to be resolved. I have the papers of the transaction.
Secondly, the college accreditation was already nullified in 2015-16. Then the Medical Council of India (MCI) made adverse remarks over the college management and instructed for FIR. The medical college erected over 25 acres of land in Nehru Nagar, Kachandur rest 75 % of the land is still unused and lastly the land is a government land and provided by the Municipal Corporation start medical college.
Unfortunately, the government intentionally wants to make payment to the same land which is already government land to expose the actual motive. Actually, the Baghel government wants to give undue benefit to its relatives, misusing the power and position and will set a wrong tradition. It will have adverse impact in future, the ex-CM Dr. Raman Singh said.
