Central govt monitors construction of JPNAIIMS

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Cities/Patna/Central_govt_monitors_construction_of_JPNAIIMS/RssArticleShow/articleshow/1835725.cms

With the completion of construction of the boundary wall of the proposed Jayaprakash Narayan All India Institute of Medical Sciences (JPNAIIMS) on the outskirts of the state capital at Phulwari, the civil work is likely to commence soon under the direct supervision of the Centre. Vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had laid the foundation of JPNAIIMS on January 2, 2004. This ambitious project will be built on the pattern of AIIMS at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore. State health secretary Dipak Kumar said that the project is being directly monitored by the Centre. The state government has cleared the dues of farmers whose land was acquired for the state-of-the-art hospital, he added. According to sources, the state government had acquired 37.67 acres of land at Danapur Bhusaula under the Phulwari block of Patna district in 1983 for the fishery department. However, in 2003, it decided to earmark the land for the proposed JPNAIIMS. Unfortunately, about 92 farmers, whose lands were acquired, were denied adequate payment during the previous regime, the sources said, adding that the NDA government took initiative to clear their dues. State president of the art and cultural cell of the BJP Arvind Kumar said that this project should have been completed by now. Locals said that there must not be any politics in the name of development. During the NDA regime, the Centre had approved Rs 300 crore for the proposed hospital. It was then announced that the project would be completed in three years and that the Centre would spend about Rs 100 crore on its maintenance each year. The Centre recently made it clear that the project would be taken on a priority basis when much hue and cry was raised over the non-execution of the project even after the lapse of three years. Meanwhile, the Shatrughan Sinha Fans Association claimed that the project was the brainchild of Sinha. The project materialised during the tenure of then Union health minister Sushma Swaraj, it maintained.