Anirudh Gupta
Ferozepur, January 4
Nine years after the PGI satellite centre in Ferozepur was announced during the fag end of the UPA-II regime, PM Narendra Modi will finally lay its foundation stone tomorrow. The project had been mired in controversies over the selection of site and then the allocation of land.
Dr Sameer Aggarwal, nodal officer for this project, said an estimated Rs 409.5 crore would be spent on this project in the first phase.
Union Minister of Health amp; Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Governor Banwari Lal Purohit, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, besides other Union ministers, including Hardeep Puri, Som Parkash, Meenakshi Lekhi, will also participate in the event.
A team of senior officials from the PGI, Chandigarh, along with district officials, has been camping here for the past several days to oversee the arrangements.
PGI officials said with the PGIMER’s prominence as a major centre for healthcare in the region, the patient load at the institute had been constantly rising. The emergency and routine services are finding it difficult to cope with the patient load, they said. Secondly, families have to travel long distances to avail services at the PGIMER. Thus, it became imperative that newer outreach models of service to the public be explored.
Dr Sameer said the process for the allotment of tender had been initiated and the construction work was likely to commence within two months.
9 yrs on, stone of Ferozepur PGI centre to be laid today
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