Cabinet sub-panel to look into Nahan college construction row

The state government has constituted a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Health and Family Welfare Minister Dhani Ram Shandil to look into the possibility of completion of the existing building and the expansion of the Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar Government Medical College at Nahan.

The committee has been tasked to look into issues like making proper usage of the under construction building and looking for alternative site for facilitating expansion possibilities of the medical college. The committee will also look into the issue of the arbitration case filed with regard to the building.

The other members of the committee are Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Town and Country Planning Minister Rajesh Dharmani. Special Secretary (Health) will be its Member Secretary while Nahan MLA Ajay Solanki will be a Special Invitee on the committee. The other Special Invitees in the Cabinet sub-committee include Deputy Commissioner (Sirmaur), Engineer-in-Chief (Public Works) and Divisional Forest Officer (Nahan).

The state government is keen to shift the Nahan medical college from the existing site, next to the regional hospital, to another location to facilitate future expansion plan. The issue had echoed in the Vidhan Sabha. The BJP has been opposing the shifting of the college on the suburbs of the town at Kanshiwala on the grounds that already crores have been spent on the construction of the building and obtaining permission for use of forest land would take a lot of time.

Work on the under construction building had come to a halt, following the matter being in arbitration as the contactor had not been paid his dues. However, with there being space paucity near the Regional Hospital, the state government is keen to have the main college complex at a site where ample land is available to facilitate future growth and expansion of the medical college.

Himachal Tribune