Wednesday, 29 December 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The decision of the Uttarakhand government to sanction a sum of Rs 25 crore for the Kotdwar medical college is receiving strong response from many parts of the state. There are six districts in the state where there is no existing or proposed government medical college. The sanction of the budget for Kotdwar medical college is being objected to on the ground that there is already one medical college ( Government Medical College Srinagar) in Pauri district. Those putting the question mark on the Kotdwar medical college point out that the state government had stated in the state assembly that one medical college in every district of the state would be opened. At present there are three functional medical colleges, the Chandra Singh Garhwali Government Medical College Srinagar (Pauri), Sushila Tiwari Government Medical College Haldwani (Nainital) and Government Doon Medical College Dehradun. Apart from them the construction work in the Government Medical College in Almora is in the last phase of completion and the government has sanctioned medical colleges in Udham Singh Nagar, Pithoragarh and Haridwar districts. It leaves the districts of Chamoli, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Champawat and Bageshwar without any medical college.
A campaign on social media platforms has been started by the youngsters of these districts in which the decision to open a second medical college is being opposed.
Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat said that the BJP government of Uttarakhand has given a step-motherly treatment to the mountainous border districts which is unfortunate. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Kedarnath five times and he always says that development of Kedarpuri is his cherished dream but he has done nothing for the development of Kedarnath constituency. He claimed that during every visit of PM Modi, he requested for setting up a medical college but nothing has happened. There is no institution in the area. Rawat clarified that he does not oppose setting up of medical colleges in any district but priority should be given to the areas where there is no such college.
When contacted the vice president of Uttarakhand Congress Jot Singh Bisht said that the state government should treat every area of the state equally. He said that both Pauri and Tehri have six assembly constituencies each. Bisht added that instead of giving a second medical college to Pauri, the government should have opened a medical college in Tehri. He said that the government buckled under the pressure exerted by Minister Harak Singh Rawat.
The residents of the Kotdwar and nearby areas are however supporting the decision to open a medical college in Kotdwar. Mahesh Rawat a resident of Devi road Kotdwar said, “ Kotdwar deserves to be a separate district and it is the entry point of Garhwal hills so it is ideally suited for setting up a medical college.’’
It is pertinent to mention here that the powerful cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat stormed out of the meeting of the state cabinet recently when he found no mention of Kodtwar medical college on the listed agenda of the cabinet. He even threatened to resign from the cabinet which created an uncomfortable position for the state BJP. In order to placate a sulking Rawat the state government allotted a budget of Rs 25 crore for the Kotdwar medical college.
